backbiter

See also: back biter

English

Etymology

From Middle English bakbitere, bakbytere, bacbitere, equivalent to backbite +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbæk.baɪt.ə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbæk.baɪt.ɚ/, [ˈbæk.baɪɾ.ɚ]

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Noun

backbiter (plural backbiters)

1. A person who says nasty things about another person behind the second person's back: that is, out of their sight and hearing.
   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Oeconomy and Happy Life among the Houyhnhnms. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 301:

     […] here were no Gibers, Cenſurers, Backbiters, Pick-pockets, Highwaymen, Houſebreakers, Attorneys, Bawds, Buffoons, Gameſters, Politicians, Wits, ſplenetick tedious Talkers, Controvertiſts, Raviſhers, Murderers, Robbers, Virtuoſo's; […]

   • 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Virago Press (2018), page 143:

     She better not hear none of them old backbiters talking about her husband!

Related terms

• back
• backbite
• backbiting
• backstab
• bite
• biter