behind

prep

1. At or to the back or far side of.

   “The children were hiding behind the wall.”

   “Behind the garage needs clearing asap.”

   “The sun went behind the clouds.”

   “Look behind you!”

   “I hide behind you in hide and seek.”

2. (figuratively)At or to the back or far side of.

   “Behind the smile was a cruel intention.”

3. (figuratively)At or to the back or far side of.

   “All my problems are behind me.”

4. Less forward or advanced than; after.

   “Smith finished the race a lap behind the others.”

   “About the center, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed — I tethered by my rope[…].”

5. Less forward or advanced than; after.

   “I'm ranked sixth in the French class, behind five other pupils.”

   “In the cricket match, England are 120 runs behind India.”

   “For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.”

6. Less forward or advanced than; after.

   “London is nine hours behind Tokyo.”

7. Responsible for, being the creator or controller of.

   “Who is behind these terrorist attacks?”

   “Mr Jones was the man behind the redevelopment plan.”

   “Bud Light replaces Marketing VP behind Dylan Mulvaney partnership.”

8. Underlying, being the reason for or explanation of.

   “What is behind this unexpected decision?”

9. In support of.

   “The republicans are fully behind their candidate.”

10. (US, informal)Following, subsequent to; as a result or consequence of; because of.

    “He was like, 'Fuck the police! Fuck you! You know who I am, you gonna quit playing with me, bitch.' I'm like let's go. 'Cause I wasn't trying to go to jail behind that shit.”

adv

1. At or in the rear or back part of something.

   “The water flows out through the pipe, and the sediment collects behind.”

2. In a rearward direction.

   “We ran and ran, without once looking behind.”

3. So as to come after someone or something in position, distance, advancement, ranking, time, etc.

   “The slower runners were left a long way behind.”

   “In the cricket match, England finished a long way behind.”

   “The worst thing about autumn is that winter follows behind.”

   “I shall not lag behind.”

4. So as to be still in place after someone or something has departed or ceased to exist.

   “I couldn't be bothered to carry the ironing board, so I left it behind.”

   “He stayed behind after the war.”

   “He left behind a legacy of death and sorrow.”

   “The island was inundated by the sea, leaving not a trace behind.”

   “Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, / Leave not a rack behind.”

5. Backward in time or order of succession; past.

   “[…] forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before”

6. Behind the scenes in a theatre; backstage.

   “‘After the performance was over I went behind, and spoke to her.’”

7. (archaic)Not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; out of sight; remaining.

   “We cannot be sure that there is no evidence behind.”

adj

1. Not advanced to the required or expected degree; overdue or in arrears.

   “I'm very behind in my schedule.”

   “My employer is two paychecks behind on paying my salary.”

2. Slow.

   “My watch is behind by four minutes.”

noun

1. The rear, back-end.

   “This part fits under the behind of the vehicle.”

   “She sneaked up on me from behind.”

2. (informal)The buttocks, bottom, butt.

   “I was stung on the behind by a wasp.”

   “There was a girl in the mattress factory with me during the war, girl about thirty. A big one, kind of a fat face, big behind to her, big titties, kind of a girl should be human and soft with a man.”

   “"So the catheter didn't have anything to do with keeping him from touching himself?" I don't usually go in for euphemisms, but Fineg is a man who says "behind", as in "I have a picture where he bit me in the behind." The catheter, it turns out, was in the chimp's femoral artery (to monitor blood pressure), not his urethra.”

   “"The dog got excited, was jumping around inside the boat and then it jumped on the gun. It went off, shooting the [decoy setter] in the buttocks," Box Elder County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Kevin Potter told the Salt Lake Tribune. Twenty-seven rounds of birdshot were removed from the man's behind after the accident.”

3. (euphemistic)Synonym of ass (“synecdochic: a person or their body”).

   “Get your lazy behind out of bed!”

4. A one-point score.

   “A roar from ten thousand throats go up, For we've kicked another behind.”

5. (slang)The catcher.
6. In the Eton College field game, any of a group of players consisting of two "shorts" (who try to kick the ball over the bully) and a "long" (who defends the goal).