Backward, a.
1. Directed to the back or rear; as, backward glances.
2. Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating; loath. For wiser brutes were backward to be slaves. Pope.
3. Not well advanced in learning; not quick of apprehension; dull; inapt; as, a backward child. "The backward learner." South.
4. Late or behindhand; as, a backward season.
2 more senses
5. Not advanced in civilization; undeveloped; as, the country or region is in a backward state.
6. Already past or gone; bygone. [R.] And flies unconscious o'er each backward year. Byron.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
Backward, Backwards, adv.
1. With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride backward.
2. Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms backward.
3. On the back, or with the back downward. Thou wilt fall backward. Shak.
4. Toward, or in, past time or events; ago. Some reigns backward. Locke.
5. By way of reflection; reflexively. Sir J. Davies.
6. From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame, from religion to sin. The work went backward. Dryden.
7. In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction; contrarily; as, to read backwards. We might have . . . beat them backward home. Shak.
Backward, n.
The state behind or past. [Obs.] In the dark backward and abysm of time. Shak.
Backward, v. i.
To keep back; to hinder. [Obs.]