背
back; face away; violate; recite from memory
Meanings
12 senses · 56 examplesnoun
back (body part)
Refers to the rear part of the human torso, often used in daily conversations.
He has a mole on his back.
A photo of her back is hanging on the wall.
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Mom helps me wipe my back.
He stood at the door with a backpack on his back.
Athletes often exercise their back muscles.
verb
face away from; have one's back to
Describes the direction of a person or object facing away from something.
This small mountain village faces the sea with its back to the mountain, with beautiful scenery.
The soldiers fought with their backs to the water, with high morale.
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Public support or opposition is the key to determining the survival of a regime.
He is facing away from me, I don't know what he's looking at.
This fortress leans against the steep cliff with its back.
noun
reverse side; back part of an object
Used for the non-functional or outer rear part of items like tools, paper, etc.
The back of the pen is very smooth.
Please gently place the back of the knife on the table.
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The ink seeped through to the back of the paper.
The back cover of the phone easily gets fingerprints.
The strap of the schoolbag is broken and needs to be repaired.
verb
leave; depart from
formalFormal literary usage, often used in fixed phrases like 背井离乡.
He left his hometown to work hard in a big city.
War forced countless families to leave their homes.
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The experience of elders leaving their hometowns is heartbreaking.
The war forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes.
He left his hometown to study and hasn't returned for years.
verb
hide; keep secret
Used for actions that prevent others from knowing something, often paired with negative adjectives.
He is open and aboveboard, has nothing to hide from others.
She secretly signed up for a postgraduate exam class behind her family's back.
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Don't discuss this matter behind your colleagues' backs.
He secretly changed jobs behind his leader's back.
One should be open and aboveboard, and not do bad things behind others' backs.
verb
recite from memory
Used for memorizing and repeating texts, lines, or lessons.
He has memorized this line of dialogue perfectly.
The teacher asked us to recite the ancient poem from memory.
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She can recite the entire English vocabulary book from memory.
He stayed up all night reciting the textbook passages before the exam.
Xiangsheng performers can recite a large number of traditional skits from memory.
verb
violate; go back on
Used for breaking promises, agreements, or moral principles.
He violated the contract and paid a large sum of compensation.
People who betray trust and abandon righteousness will not have true friends.
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He violated traffic rules and was fined by the traffic police.
Enterprises cannot violate the rights and interests of consumers.
He broke his oath and violated the agreement, and was condemned by everyone.
verb
turn one's face away
Describes turning one's face or body to face the opposite direction.
He turned his face away and pretended not to see it.
She turned her back angrily and ignored me.
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He turned his back to the audience to take his curtain call.
I didn't want to see his sad look, so I turned my back.
He turned his back and secretly wiped his tears.
adjective
remote; secluded
Describes places that are far from busy areas and hard to reach.
This small town is very quiet and secluded, suitable for retirement.
Few people pass through this secluded back street and alley.
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The small village deep in the mountains is very remote.
He lives in a secluded alley.
This small shop is located on a back street, but business is very good.
adjective
unlucky; bad luck
informalUsed in spoken language to describe bad luck or poor performance.
I'm really unlucky today, I've been losing at cards.
He had the worst luck today, lost his wallet and was late.
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I lost 20,000 yuan on stocks, how unlucky.
Everything has gone wrong these days, my luck is terrible.
He failed the exam again, what bad luck.
adjective
hard of hearing
informalUsed in spoken language to describe partial hearing loss, often used with 点儿.
He is a bit hard of hearing, you need to speak louder.
Grandma is getting old, her hearing is a bit bad.
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My grandpa is a bit hard of hearing, he always turns the TV up loud.
You need to be patient when talking to people who are hard of hearing.
proper noun
surname Bei
A rare Chinese surname.
This teacher with the surname Bei teaches us Chinese.
Mr. Bei is our neighbor.