Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
backscratch en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From back + scratch.
Meanings
-
A scratch on the back.
Series of clotheslines no-sold, so Haku tries backscratches, and, interestingly, that finally works.
2013, Ben Undelson, Fiction. A Nostalgic Guide to Growing up with the WWF:I had to admit he had nice fingernails and a backscratch would have felt just fine.
2011, Denise Giardina, The Unquiet Earth: A Novel:Backscratches keep improving but the itch increases.
1989, Common Lives, Lesbian Lives, numbers 29-32, page 20:Several Colorado papers have reproduced the substance of our articles on silver, and we thank them for their backscratches.
1931, The Mines Magazine, volume 21, page 9:
Forms
backscratch en · VERB
Pronunciation
Etymology
From back + scratch.
Meanings
-
To scratch one's or another's back.
He enjoyed being hugged, backscratched, and tickled and sat quietly next to the examiner after testing while a parental interview was conducted.
1984, Michael D. Powers, Behavioral Assessment of Severe Developmental Disabilities:So it is to the mutual advantage of social primates to backscratch for each other.
1995, Stephen R. Kellert, The Biophilia Hypothesis, page 397:[…] primate's inclination to backscratch and delouse rather than venture into the dangerous country beyond familiar tramping grounds.
2000, David Michael Jacobs, UFOs and Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge, page 190:That thought appeared to discompose her greatly, though Jasper made light of it by rapidly back-scratching with his hind legs and giving a short stern bark, just to assure her that strangers would be rushed off the property on sight.
1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 127:
-
(slang) To engage in a reciprocal beneficial action.
The fount of social problems, he argues, is that human morality grew out of the natural principles of tit-for-tat and mutual backscratching.
2008, Nicholas Fearn, The Latest Answers to the Oldest Questions:It was backscratched into existence, cost nearly a billion pounds, and now they are wondering why they let it happen.
2003, Ralph Steadman, Doodaaa: The Balletic Art of Gavin Twinge, page 105:Whether referred to as bargaining, logrolling, or backscratching, the effect is the same: "you support me, I'll support you."
2007, Jeffrey M. Elliot, The Presidential-Congressional Political Dictionary, page 178:
Forms
Relateds
kickback · logrolling
Translations (1)
es pastelear (engage in reciprocal action)