backcourt

English

Etymology

From back +‎ court.

Noun

backcourt (plural backcourts)

1. (chiefly Scotland) A courtyard behind a housing block or tenement building.
   • 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 77:

     Some backcourts had wee outside buildings. They had caved-in roofs and tile chimneys broke off and all smashed windows.

   • 2011 January 8, Brian McHugh, The Guardian:

     Each unique backcourt was an adventure playground with walls to be climbed, chasms to be leaped and dustbins to be raked through and pillaged.

   • 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 16:

     'The locus is Crawford Street?' 'One of the backcourts sir, as far as I understand.'

2. (basketball) A team's defensive half of the court; the part of the court where the other team's basket is located, or the guards playing in that area.
   • 2009 January 2, Howard Beck, “Knicks Will Continue to Be Walsh’s Work in Progress in 2009”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     So the Knicks, who began the season with a depleted frontcourt, have muddled through the last six weeks with a depleted backcourt as well.

Coordinate terms

• frontcourt
• midcourt

Derived terms

• backcourtman
• backcourtmate