ADJ

broad
lean, slender
muscled, muscular, powerful, strong
bent
erect, straight
lower, upper
bad, stiff
He's off work with a bad back

VERB + BACK

bend, stiffen, straighten
stretch
He yawned and stretched his back as he got out of bed
break, hurt, injure
arch
The cat arched its back and hissed at the dog
support
knead, massage
scratch

BACK + VERB

arch
stiffen
His back stiffened as he saw the photographers waiting
ache

BACK + NOUN

injury, pain, trouble
muscles
support
a seat with good back support

PREP

behind your ~
They blindfolded him and tied his hands behind his back
(figurative)
People say bad things about him behind his back, but never to his face
flat on your ~
I was flat on my back for six weeks when I broke my leg
on your ~
He was carrying a small child on his back. She was lying on her back on the sofa
in the/your ~
I've got a nagging pain in my lower back
~ to
He was standing with his back to the fire

PHRASES

sb's back is turned (figurative)
The boss was certain that the staff would stop working as soon as his back was turned
back to back
The children sat back to back so they couldn't see each others' drawings
a pat/slap on the back
He smiled and gave me a hearty slap on the back
(figurative)
She deserves a pat on the back for her efforts
the small of your back
She felt a sharp pain in the small (= the lowest part of) her back
turn your back (on sb/sth)
Actors should never turn their backs on the audience
(figurative)
She decided to turn her back on Paris and return to her home town

PREP

around/round the ~
If you'd like to come round the back (= to the area behind the house) , I'll show you the garden
at the ~
We could only get seats at the back
down the ~
My money's all fallen down the back of the cushion
in the ~
Two passengers sat in the back of the car
to the ~
The man was refusing to go to the back of the queue
towards the ~
The arts page is usually towards the back of the newspaper

PHRASES

back to front
I had my pullover on back to front (= with the back where the front should be)

ADV

hastily, hurriedly
She backed away hurriedly
away, in, off, up
If you can't drive in forwards, try backing it in. Back off! There's no need to yell at me. Can you back your car up so that I can get through?

VERB + BACK

try to
He tried to back away

PREP

across
She backed across the room
away from
The children backed away from him in fear
into
She backed into the garage
out of
He backed out of the drive

ADV

firmly, strongly
Teachers are strongly backing the new educational policies
fully
overwhelmingly
unanimously
openly, publicly
financially
his election bid was financially backed by a soft drinks company
up
I'll back you up if they don't believe you
PHRASAL VERBS back down

VERB + BACK

refuse to
be forced to, be obliged to

PREP

from
The government was forced to back down from implementing these proposals
on
She refused to back down on a point of principle
over
The committee finally backed down over the issue of spending cuts