a. See Awkward. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Awk + -ward. ] 1. Wanting dexterity in the use of the hands, or of instruments; not dexterous; without skill; clumsy; wanting ease, grace, or effectiveness in movement; ungraceful; as, he was awkward at a trick; an awkward boy. [ 1913 Webster ]

And dropped an awkward courtesy. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not easily managed or effected; embarrassing. [ 1913 Webster ]

A long and awkward process. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

An awkward affair is one that has gone wrong, and is difficult to adjust. C. J. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Perverse; adverse; untoward. [ Obs. ] “Awkward casualties.” “Awkward wind.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

O blind guides, which being of an awkward religion, do strain out a gnat, and swallow up a cancel. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Ungainly; unhandy; clownish; lubberly; gawky; maladroit; bungling; inelegant; ungraceful; unbecoming. -- Awkward, Clumsy, Uncouth. Awkward has a special reference to outward deportment. A man is clumsy in his whole person, he is awkward in his gait and the movement of his limbs. Clumsiness is seen at the first view. Awkwardness is discovered only when a person begins to move. Hence the expressions, a clumsy appearance, and an awkward manner. When we speak figuratively of an awkward excuse, we think of a lack of ease and grace in making it; when we speak of a clumsy excuse, we think of the whole thing as coarse and stupid. We apply the term uncouth most frequently to that which results from the lack of instruction or training; as, uncouth manners; uncouth language. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Awk"ward*ly adv. -- Awk"ward*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Mil.) A squad of inapt recruits assembled for special drill. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. 1. Directed to the back or rear; as, backward glances. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating; loath. [ 1913 Webster ]

For wiser brutes were backward to be slaves. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not well advanced in learning; not quick of apprehension; dull; inapt; as, a backward child. “The backward learner.” South. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Late or behindhand; as, a backward season. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Not advanced in civilization; undeveloped; as, the country or region is in a backward state. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Already past or gone; bygone. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And flies unconscious o'er each backward year. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state behind or past. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

In the dark backward and abysm of time. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To keep back; to hinder. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Backward, v. t. + -ation. ] (Stock Exchange) The seller's postponement of delivery of stock or shares, with the consent of the buyer, upon payment of a premium to the latter; -- also, the premium so paid. See Contango. Biddle. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. Reluctantly; slowly; aversely. [ Obs. ] Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Perversely; ill. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And does he think so backwardly of me? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being backward. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } adv. [ Back, adv. + -ward. ] 1. With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride backward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms backward. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. On the back, or with the back downward. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou wilt fall backward. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Toward, or in, past time or events; ago. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some reigns backward. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. By way of reflection; reflexively. Sir J. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame, from religion to sin. [ 1913 Webster ]

The work went backward. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction; contrarily; as, to read backwards. [ 1913 Webster ]

We might have . . . beat them backward home. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To clean the oil from (wool) after combing. Ash. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem.) To clean (a filter, a chromatography column, a water softener, etc.) by passing liquid through in the reverse of the normal direction of flow. This procedure dislodges particles which clog the pores of the filter or column packing, removing them from the filter or column. [ PJC ]

n. 1. The flow of water propelled backward by the propeller, paddle wheel, or oars of a boat. [ PJC ]

2. (Aeron.) The backward flowing air within the wash of an airplane, caused mostly by the engine. [ PJC ]

n. [ Back, a. or adv. + -water. ] 1. Water turned back in its course by an obstruction, an opposing current, or the flow of the tide, as in a sewer or river channel, or across a river bar. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An accumulation of water overflowing the low lands, caused by an obstruction. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Water thrown back by the turning of a waterwheel, or by the paddle wheels of a steamer. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ it>or }, n. 1. (Med.) A lotion made by mixing calomel and lime water. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A wash that blackens, as opposed to whitewash; hence, figuratively, calumny. [ 1913 Webster ]

To remove as far as he can the modern layers of black wash, and let the man himself, fair or foul, be seen. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. 1. same as defame. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. to color with blackwash. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. any of several human or animal diseases characterized by dark urine resulting from rapid breakdown of red blood cells; -- used especially of
blackwater fever, a severe form of malaria caused by the blood parasite Plasmodium falciparum. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

. Nebraska; -- a nickname alluding to the dark color of the water of its rivers, due to the presence of a black vegetable mold in the soil. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. Any structure or contrivance, as a mole, or a wall at the mouth of a harbor, to break the force of waves, and afford protection from their violence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. cooking utensils, such as pots, pans, or baking dishes made of heat-resistant material.
Syn. -- cooking utensil. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. [ Also Gaikwar, Guicowar. ] [ Marathi gāekwār, prop., a cowherd. ] The title of the ruling Prince of Baroda, in Gujarat, in Bombay, India. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Chin. 'hai-kuan. ] Chinese maritime customs. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A Chinese weight (1/10 catty) equivalent to 11/3 oz. or 37.801 g. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ } n. [ OE., also hyghwhele, highawe. ] The lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus minor) of Europe. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. [ from jerk + water, a place where it is necessary to draw (jerk) water to supply the boiler of a steam engine. ] 1. small and remote and insignificant; as, a jerkwater college.
Syn. -- one-horse, pokey, poky. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. (Railroads) Off the main railroad line. [ Archaic ] [ PJC ]

prop. n. A battle of World War II (January 1944); American forces landed and captured a Japanese airbase. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. Japanese counterpart of the Chinese Kuan Yin. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. (Buddhism) A female Bodhisattva; often called Goddess of Mercy and considered an aspect of the Bodisattva Avalokitesvara; identified with Japanese Kwannon.
Syn. -- Kuan Yin. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The kwacha, the monetary unit of Malawi. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a wagon for delivering milk. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Anat.) Same as Paxwax. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A path, as over mountains, followed by pack animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A wide scenic road planted with trees.
Syn. -- drive. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Railroads) A person employed to walk over and inspect a section of tracks. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. Any of two or more narrow paths, of steel, smooth stone, or the like, laid in a public roadway otherwise formed of an inferior pavement, as cobblestones, to provide an easy way for wheels. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. See Wigwam. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ , adv. In a working position or manner; as, a T rail placed workwise, i.e., resting on its base. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]