Dictionary

backhander en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From backhand + -er (patient suffix) or -er (agent noun suffix).

Meanings

1. A glass of wine given out of turn, the bottle having been handed backwards.
2. A blow with the back of the hand; a blow delivered with a swing of the arm across the chest.
   • I thought he would have given me a backhander with his jelly spoon[.] 1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 151:
3. (informal) A bribe, a secret payment.
4. A shot played backhand, a backhand stroke.
5. A player who plays a backhand shot.
   • She's a terrific backhander.
6. A surfer who approaches a swell with the wave behind them ("on their backhand") rather than facing the wave ("on their forehand").
   • The morning brought an increased swell; long, perfect, down-the-line, 6-8' freight trains — a forehander's dream and a backhander's nightmare 1990, Surfer - Volume 31, Issues 7-12:

Forms

Translations (25)

es soborno (bribe, secret payment) · de heimliche Zahlung (bribe, secret payment) · es anapoda (blow with the back of the hand) · es anapoda (shot played backhand, a backhand stroke) · it tangente (bribe, secret payment) · fi rystylyönti (blow with the back of the hand) · it mazzetta (bribe, secret payment) · de Schlag mit dem Handrücken (blow with the back of the hand) · fi lahjus (bribe, secret payment) · it marrovescio (blow with the back of the hand) · cs všimné (shot played backhand, a backhand stroke) · de Bakschisch (bribe, secret payment) · el ανάποδη (blow with the back of the hand) · mi utu whakapati (bribe, secret payment) · de Schmiergeld (bribe, secret payment) · pl uderzenie tyłem dłoni (blow with the back of the hand) · sk všimné (shot played backhand, a backhand stroke) · pl łapówka (bribe, secret payment) · it manrovescio (blow with the back of the hand) · it bustarella (bribe, secret payment) · es torniscón (blow with the back of the hand) · pl bekhend (shot played backhand, a backhand stroke) · de Rückhandschlag (shot played backhand, a backhand stroke) · it rovescio (shot played backhand, a backhand stroke) · de Bestechungsgeld (bribe, secret payment)