Backreference
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Backreference is a noun meaning (regular expressions) An item in a regular expression equivalent to the text matched by an earlier pattern in the expression.
Meaning
(regular expressions) An item in a regular expression equivalent to the text matched by an earlier pattern in the expression.
More Meanings
- (regular expressions, transitive) To access (the text matched by an earlier pattern in a regular expression).
Example Sentences
By wrapping it in parentheses, the attributes can be reused by backreferencing this part of the pattern[…]
Path traversal occurs when directory backreferences are used in a path to gain access to the parent folder of a subfolder.
The third part of the regular expression, \1, is the backreference and tells ColdFusion to refer back to the first subexpression[…]
It doesn't change what the part matches, so /\d+/ and /(\d+)/ will still match as many digits as possible, but in the latter case they will be remembered in a special variable to be backreferenced later.
Word Forms
- backreferences
- back-reference
- backreferencing
- backreferenced
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include alternation, cross-reference, anaphora, palindrome, subcross, anaphor.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.