backlash
backlash Lexical Profile
backlash Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A strong, adverse reaction by a large number of people, especially to a social, political, or commercial development.
"The company faced a severe public backlash after announcing sudden price increases for essential medications."
A sudden backward recoil or degree of clearance and play between adjacent movable parts in a mechanism, such as meshing gears.
"The machinist adjusted the gear train to minimize backlash and improve the precision of the lathe."
A tangle of fishing line on a spool caused by the reel continuing to spin faster than the line is pulled out during a cast.
"The novice angler spent twenty minutes untangling a stubborn backlash on his baitcasting reel."
• verb
To react with strong hostility or opposition to a policy, action, or trend.
"Consumers quickly backlashed against the streaming service when it restricted account sharing."
To recoil, jam, or snarl suddenly (especially of mechanical gears or a fishing reel).
"The fishing reel backlashed as soon as the heavy lure hit the water."
• Rhymes for backlash
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the early 19th century as a mechanical engineering term combining 'back' and 'lash' to describe the jarring recoil between loosely fitted machine gears. Its figurative sense of a strong social or political counter-reaction emerged in the mid-20th century.