1
as in to testify (to)
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1
as in jam
a crowded mass (as of cars) that impedes or blocks movement
there was the inevitable backup of travelers trying to pass through airport security
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2
as in replacement
a person or thing that takes the place of another
you didn't get the lead position, but you can be the backup to the chosen singer
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as in makeshift
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of back (up)
Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 23 Oct. 2024
Policies cover damages from water backup from sewers and drains.
—Liz Knueven, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2024
Johnson is the only other healthy quarterback on the depth chart right now, and Baltimore would need some insurance via a backup.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024
Head coach Dave Canales said Dalton is week to week and could be the backup on Sunday in Denver.
—Andy Scholes, CNN, 24 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for back (up) 
Noun
Let the younger players and the backups have a chance.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 23 Oct. 2024
Policies cover damages from water backup from sewers and drains.
—Liz Knueven, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2024
Johnson is the only other healthy quarterback on the depth chart right now, and Baltimore would need some insurance via a backup.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024
Head coach Dave Canales said Dalton is week to week and could be the backup on Sunday in Denver.
—Andy Scholes, CNN, 24 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for back (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back (up)
Verb
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Do some team members gel better with your EA than others?Kenzie Biggins, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024
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That movement gelled into the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act, now on the ballot as Proposition 140.Mary Jo Pitzl, The Arizona Republic, 12 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Glasper uses these shows to showcase the catalog of his collaborators and add a live, band-centric flair to the jams that everyone already loves.William E. Ketchum III, VIBE.com, 5 Nov. 2024
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The nose features plum jam, vanilla, and spice notes of mace, nutmeg, and cola.Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 2 Nov. 2024
Noun
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If Chickie can lure Dwight back into the fold, his replacement Vince and the others say, Chickie himself will be welcomed back too.Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2024
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These replacement practices often involve hobbies or activities that result in play.Discover Magazine, Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Really, it was all borne out of protecting what Taylor and this cast and this family of creators has built over the years, and knowing how much anticipation there was for these scripts.Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Nov. 2024
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Trump’s 2024 campaign of vengeance was born out of that moment.Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2024
Verb
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As a preventative course of treatment, people with the blood disorder receive weekly injections of factor IX to enable their blood to coagulate, said GOSH.Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK, theweek, 27 June 2024
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And when calcium salt is used to coagulate it, tofu is very high in calcium.Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 20 May 2024
Noun
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However, whatever ambition Newsom may have had if Joe Biden bowed out this year was dashed when Democratic leaders immediately anointed Harris as the substitute.Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2024
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Douglas Davies for Lincoln Township Seat 1: Davies has a background in licensed substitute teaching and is currently an operations manager.Caroline Beck, The Indianapolis Star, 6 Nov. 2024
Verb
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The unequal recovery since the Great Recession and frustration that costly college degrees haven’t always yielded meaningful returns have only hardened those attitudes.Maria Flynn, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
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Since 2020, the nation’s electoral apparatus has upgraded its equipment, tightened its procedures, improved its audits, and hardened its defenses against subversion by bad actors, foreign or domestic.Barton Gellman, TIME, 24 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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An alternate location has fallen through and they are committed.Suzanne Seggerman, Curbed, 14 Nov. 2024
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If there’s little forensic evidence tying Allen to the crime, then the abundance of alternate suspects could present a gold mine for his defense.Aja Romano, Vox, 11 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Back (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back%20%28up%29. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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