BACKSET • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Backset

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noun

Backset n.

A check; a relapse; a discouragement; a setback.

Whatever is thrown back in its course, as water. "Slackwater, or the backset caused by the overflow."

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Etymology of 'Backset'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Backset" Quotes from Famous Books

... his fussy willfulness seemed to the cashier an outrage hard to be borne. After he had taken so many tedious years to establish his ascendancy in nine-tenths of the bank's affairs it was sheer impertinence in Masters to wish to have any considerable share in the management. The backset to his ambition made him more sleepless than ever, bringing on frequent attacks of asthma. He lost interest even in the dinner parties, with a business squint, that he had been so fond of giving. Mrs. Farnsworth was under the frequent necessity ...

— The Faith Doctor - A Story of New York • Edward Eggleston

... girl and me. No, my dear fellow, your father and mother can't see you yet; you don't want them to catch the fever, do you? Good-bye. Do as your nurse tells you, and next week you may raise your head and shoulders a little; but if you don't mind her you'll have a backset, and the devil himself wouldn't engage ...

— The Grandissimes • George Washington Cable