Dictionary

backbiter en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbæk.baɪt.ə(ɹ)/
• [ˈbæk.baɪɾ.ɚ] (US)
• /ˈbæk.baɪt.ɚ/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English bakbitere, bakbytere, bacbitere, equivalent to backbite + -er.

Meanings

1. A person who says nasty things about another person behind the second person's back: that is, out of their sight and hearing.
   • She better not hear none of them old backbiters talking about her husband! 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Virago Press (2018), page 143:
   • […] here were no Gibers, Cenſurers, Backbiters, Pick-pockets, Highwaymen, Houſebreakers, Attorneys, Bawds, Buffoons, Gameſters, Politicians, Wits, ſplenetick tedious Talkers, Controvertiſts, Raviſhers, Murderers, Robbers, Virtuoſo's; […] 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Oeconomy and Happy Life among the Houyhnhnms. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 301:

Forms

Relateds

backbite · back · backstab · biter · backbiting · bite