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Toward the dorsum or back; on the dorsal side; dorsally.

Pertaining to, or situated near, the back, or dorsum, of an animal or of one of its parts; notal; tergal; neural; as, the dorsal fin of a fish; the dorsal artery of the tongue; -- opposed to ventral.

On, or toward, the dorsum, or back; on the dorsal side of; dorsad.

The back of a book. [Obs.] Books, all richly bound, with gilt dorses. Wood.

A division of chætopod annelids in which the branchiæ are along the back, on each side, or on the parapodia. [See Illusts. under Annelida and Chætopoda.]

Having branchiæ along the back; belonging to the Dorsibranchiata. -- n.

Bearing, or producing, on the back; -- applied to ferns which produce seeds on the back of the leaf, and to certain Batrachia, the ova of which become attached to the skin of the back of the parent, where they develop; dorsiparous.

The back or dorsal region of an animal; the upper side of an appendage or part; as, the dorsum of the tongue.

Back to back; as, to sit dos-à-dos in a dogcart; to dance dos- à-dos, or so that two dancers move forward and pass back to back.

To return upon one's track; to turn and go back over the same ground, or in an opposite direction. Doubling and turning like a hunted hare. Dryden. Doubling and doubling with laborious walk. Wordsworth.

A game somewhat like backgammon. Halliwell.

The red-breasted or gray snipe (Macrorhamphus griseus); -- called also brownback, and grayback.

substantive which follows. "Some six or seven dozen of Scots." "A dozen of shirts to your back." "A dozen sons." "Half a dozen friends." Shak.

To serve as a clog or hindrance; to hold back. A propeller is said to drag when the sails urge the vessel faster than the revolutions of the screw can propel her. Russell.

Formerly, a soldier who was taught and armed to serve either on horseback or on foot; now, a mounted soldier; a cavalry man.

to move off, esp. in racing, to get in front; to obtain the lead or increase it; to draw back, to retreat; to draw level, to move up even (with another); to come up to or overtake another; to draw off, to retire or retreat; to draw on, to advance; to draw up, to form in array; to draw near, nigh, or towards, to approa…

on in a carriage, as for exercise or pleasure; -- distinguished from a ride taken on horseback.

The Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius), having one hump or protuberance on the back, in distinction from the Bactrian camel, which has two humps.

One backward in book learning; a child or other person dull or weak in intellect; a dullard; a dolt. I never knew this town without dunces of figure. Swift.

A species of sandpiper (Tringa alpina); -- called also churr, dorbie, grass bird, and red-backed sandpiper. It is found both in Europe and America.