Backbone

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Backbone \Back"bone"\ (b[a^]k"b[=o]n`), n. [2d back, n. + bone.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. The column of bones in the back which sustains and gives
        firmness to the frame; the spine; the vertebral or spinal
        column.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. Anything like, or serving the purpose of, a backbone.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The lofty mountains on the north side compose the
              granitic axis, or backbone of the country. --Darwin.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              We have now come to the backbone of our subject.
                                                    --Earle.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Firmness; moral principle; steadfastness.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Shelley's thought never had any backbone. --Shairp.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {To the backbone}, through and through; thoroughly; entirely.
        "Staunch to the backbone." --Lord Lytton.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  backbone
       n 1: a central cohesive source of support and stability; "faith
            is his anchor"; "the keystone of campaign reform was the
            ban on soft money"; "he is the linchpin of this firm"
            [syn: {anchor}, {mainstay}, {keystone}, {linchpin}, {lynchpin}]
       2: fortitude and determination; "he didn't have the guts to try
          it" [syn: {grit}, {guts}, {moxie}, {sand}, {gumption}]
       3: the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and
          protecting the spinal cord; "the fall broke his back"
          [syn: {spinal column}, {vertebral column}, {spine}, {back},
           {rachis}]
       4: the part of a network that connects other networks together;
          "the backbone is the part of a communication network that
          carries the heaviest traffic"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  98 Moby Thesaurus words for "backbone":
     advocate, alpenstock, arm, athletic supporter, back, backing,
     bandeau, bearer, bottom, bra, brace, bracer, bracket, brassiere,
     buttress, cane, carrier, cervix, chutzpah, corset, courage, crook,
     crutch, determination, firmness, fortitude, foundation garment,
     fulcrum, gameness, girdle, grit, guts, gutsiness, guttiness, guy,
     guywire, hardihood, heart, heart of oak, intestinal fortitude,
     jock, jockstrap, mainstay, maintainer, mast, mettle,
     mettlesomeness, moxie, neck, nerve, pillar, pith, pluck,
     pluckiness, prop, purposefulness, rachis, reinforce, reinforcement,
     reinforcer, resoluteness, resolution, resolve, rest, resting place,
     rigging, sand, shoulder, shroud, spinal column, spine, spirit,
     sprit, spunk, spunkiness, stability, staff, stamina,
     standing rigging, stave, stay, staying power, stick, stiffener,
     stout heart, strength, strengthener, sturdiness, support,
     supporter, sustainer, toughness, true grit, upholder, vertebrae,
     vertebral column, walking stick, will
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  backbone
       
           The top level in a hierarchical {network}.  {Stub
          networks} and {transit networks} which connect to the same
          backbone are guaranteed to be interconnected.
       
          See also: {Internet backbone}.
       
          (1998-07-02)