From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
backwards
adv 1: at or to or toward the back or rear; "he moved back";
"tripped when he stepped backward"; "she looked
rearward out the window of the car" [syn: back,
backward, rearward, rearwards] [ant: forward]
2: in a manner or order or direction the reverse of normal;
"it's easy to get the `i' and the `e' backward in words
like `seize' and `siege'"; "the child put her jersey on
backward" [syn: backward]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Backward \Back"ward\, Backwards \Back"wards\, adv. [Back, adv. +
-ward.]
1. With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride
backward.
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2. Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms
backward.
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3. On the back, or with the back downward.
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Thou wilt fall backward. --Shak.
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4. Toward, or in, past time or events; ago.
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Some reigns backward. --Locke.
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5. By way of reflection; reflexively. --Sir J. Davies.
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6. From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame,
from religion to sin.
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The work went backward. --Dryden.
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7. In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction;
contrarily; as, to read backwards.
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We might have . . . beat them backward home. --Shak.
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