How to Use backbone in a Sentence

backbone

noun

• She is the backbone of the family.
• He showed some backbone by refusing to compromise his values.
• The three have been the backbone of the team for the last three seasons.
  — Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 14 Mar. 2025
• The tree, which is the backbone of the saddle, is thinner above the withers of the horse.
  — Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 24 Mar. 2023
• These movies—there are six of them in all—form the book’s backbone.
  — Isaac Butler, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2022
• In our culture, the men are the head of the household, but the women are the backbone.
  — Katherine Tinsley, Good Housekeeping, 6 Apr. 2022
• Grapefruit, sage and patchouli are the backbone of the fragrance.
  — Dallas News, 30 Nov. 2022
• Hark back to a time where peplum tops were the backbone of your wardrobe.
  — Georgia Trodd, Glamour, 23 Feb. 2023
• This work forms part of the backbone of the Standard Model.
  — Zeeya Merali, Scientific American, 11 May 2022
• The Kenyan police are supposed to be the backbone of the armed mission.
  — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2024
• The idea of the physical body is the backbone of this entire video.
  — Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2022
• Deep down, the media is the backbone for the entire story.
  — John Hopewell, Variety, 23 Sep. 2023
• The linebacker corps, led by Harman and Lee, is the backbone of the defense.
  — Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Aug. 2023
• The group forms the backbone of Behavioral Health Court.
  — Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Apr. 2023
• Where in God's name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with it and stand up to the lobbyists?
  — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 25 May 2022
• The stories that form the backbone of the novel are Juan’s sketches of Jan Gay.
  — Tope Folarin, The Atlantic, 16 Nov. 2023
• Parts of the pterosaur’s shoulders, legs, wings, and backbones were preserved in rock.
  — Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 6 Feb. 2024
• Some gins have a backbone that just sings out of this treatment, and some don’t.
  — Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 21 May 2022
• The stand supports Ohio agriculture, the backbone of the fair.
  — Alissa Widman Neese, Axios, 29 July 2024
• Béchamel is one of the French mother sauces that provide the backbone of so many great recipes.
  — Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 15 July 2024
• These are crosswise cuts that include both sides of the fish with a piece of the backbone in the center.
  — Noma Nazish, Forbes, 26 June 2022
• And two, cell culture was the backbone of this research field.
  — Lorena Galliot, Scientific American, 5 Feb. 2025
• Perennials and shrubs are the backbone of the Test Garden.
  — Marty Ross, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 Mar. 2023
• The backbone of the hour is a story line about Al helping Wu in a crisis.
  — Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 23 Dec. 2021
• Which is why poor Mary, who loves him and has tried to serve as his backbone, has been dragged down, too.
  — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2023
• Of course, a league-best defense remains the backbone of the scorching start.
  — Ethan Fuller, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Jan. 2023
• Veterans are the backbone and the spine of this country.
  — Marina Pitofsky, USA TODAY, 2 Mar. 2022
• This combo is the backbone of so many of Chris’s dishes.
  — Julia Turshen, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
• Goaltender Ava McNaughton is the backbone of an extremely stingy defense.
  — Dean Spiros, Twin Cities, 20 Mar. 2025
• Lockheed Martin produces the F-35 jet, which still forms the backbone of the Air Force's air combat capabilities.
  — Rebecca Rosman, NPR, 22 Mar. 2025