background Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a person's social heritage: previous experience or training
- he is a lawyer with a sports background
noun the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground
ground.
- he posed her against a background of rolling hills
noun information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem
background knowledge.
- the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident
noun extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured
background signal.
- they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals
noun relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation
- when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background
noun the state of the environment in which a situation exists
scope; setting.
- you can't do that in a university setting
noun (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear
screen background; desktop.
noun scenery hung at back of stage
backdrop; backcloth.
verb understate the importance or quality of
play down; downplay.
- he played down his royal ancestry

Back, a. + ground.

Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front.
(Paint.) The space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures. ✍ The distance in a picture is usually divided into foreground, middle distance, and background. Fairholt.
Anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings.
A place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight.
I fancy there was a background of grinding and waiting before Miss Torry could produce this highly finished . . . performance. Mrs. Alexander.

A husband somewhere in the background. Thackeray.