Backlash

Quick meaning: Backlash is a noun meaning (literal) A suddenly reversed or backward motion, such as of a rope or elastic band when it snaps under tension.

Meaning

(literal) A suddenly reversed or backward motion, such as of a rope or elastic band when it snaps under tension.

More Meanings

1. (figurative) A negative reaction, objection or outcry, especially of a violent or abrupt nature.
2. (mechanics) The jarring or reflex motion caused in badly fitting machinery by irregularities in velocity or a reverse of motion.
3. To perform a backlash, to lash back in reaction to some cause.
4. (mechanics) The looseness through which one part of connected machinery, such as a wheel, gear, piston, or screw, can be moved without moving the connected parts, or a measurement of the distance moved thereby; either intentional (as allowance) or unintentional (from error or wear).

Example Sentences

The public backlash to the proposal was quick and insistent.

May 2, 1922, locomotive 2469 , Hornell, N. Y. Screw reverse gear backlashed due to latch spring too weak to hold it in place ; 1 injured

I have the faculty of getting more backlashed in less casts with more kinds of guaranteed anti-backlash reels than any man who reads this sad confession. I am letter-perfect at it. Yet I do sometimes catch fish.

... the word "backlash" is used in the extended sense in which it is understood in Lancashire and Yorkshire , including not only backlash proper , but also break of contact between the working faces of the teeth of the two wheels when the driven wheel overruns the driver without actual backlash . To place rope or belt drums of any considerable size upon shafts driven by spur gearing is nearly always dangerous.

Word Forms

• backlashes
• backlashing
• backlashed

Synonyms for backlash

Depending on context, synonyms include lash, play, recoil, rebound, repercussion, backfire.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include recoil, backfire, rebound, repercussion, backsliding, retreat.

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