Do we say backward or backwards
He was but a pace from the edge of the steep declivity, and in another moment he fell backward, his gun exploding in the air as he went.
The former has reference to the number of churches and religious houses the county used to possess, the latter to the backward state of the crops on the exposed Cotswold Hills.
The rope which tethered him hung slack, and this enabled the stallion to give impetus to his backward leap.
" "My dear, I'm so excited now I'm counting backward.
In this case the fracture of the pyramidal process, and the consequent lengthening of the tendon of the extensor pedis, allows the os coronæ to occupy upon the articulatory surface of the os pedis a more backward position than normally it should.
Dislocation of the left os coronæ from the articulating surface of the os pedis in a backward direction.
She heard her name called from the wharf and turned her face backward, as the light craft began to move jerkily away.
The Savior was not backward in applying his own principles plainly and pointedly to such forms of oppression as appeared among the Jews.
For a few moments, indeed, the result of the struggle seemed doubtful, and Mrs. Wilde at length, by a violent effort, raised herself almost upright, with the infuriated slave still hanging to her throat; but the latter converted this into an advantage, by suddenly throwing her whole weight upon the breast of her mistress, thus casting her violently backward across the head-board of the bed, and dislocating the spine.
In the steam-engine the piston is forced backward and forward by the expansive power of the steam, the vapour being admitted alternately to the forward and rear ends of the cylinder.
Friction clutches are used by which the driving-shaft and the axles can be connected or disconnected at the will of the driver, so that the vehicle can stand while the motor is running; friction clutches are used also to throw in gears of different sizes to increase or decrease the speed of the vehicle, as well as to drive backward.
But to make the vessel go backward another set of turbines was necessary, built to run the other way, and working on the same shaft.
To reverse the direction, the steam was shut off the engines which revolved from right to left and turned on those designed to run backward, or from left to right.
Shall we go forward or be drawn backward?
"Chatter on!" said the Fisher, "he joins you now!" "Togetherit will be together!" said the stranger, as with a last desperate effort he bent his adversary backward from the betling cliff.
Mirage effects are common on the western plains, and if Ormsby had not been familiar with them he might have marveled at the striking example afforded by the backward look.
The life and the smooth running of the human machine, when considered at all, has been thought of last, and in this respect America is even one of the most backward of the civilized nations.
For our present purpose I will not touch on education as we find it in our most backward states, but rather as it is in the most advanced, since it is from improvement in these that we may expect to produce the best results for the whole nation.
Even in those states which have compulsory attendance up to fourteen, many children who are quite normal are yet very backward at that age.
I was shy and backward by nature, and slow at making a friend either among masters or boys.
I felt it all in a flush, but shy and backward as I was, I could do nothing but flatten out the sacking for her.
" I do not know that she meant to hurt me, though she was never very backward at that; but whatever her intention, her words seemed to strike straight upon a naked nerve.
" I had been casting about in my mind how I could break it gently to him; but I was always backward in speech, and I could think of nothing better than this.
THE BACKWARD LOOK TALCOTT M. BANKS '90 Once on a bright October day, I took the road whose winding track Leads up among the hills away Across Taconic's shaggy back, Leaving the valley broad and fair For barren heights in upper air.
When the critical moment arrived and she got to thinking how dreadful it would be if she should make a mistake, she went all to pieces, lost her head and marched forward instead of backward, crashing violently into Agony, who was marching with the four ahead.
This might be well, were it true that civilization is 'progressing backwards,' the science of government retrograding.
"I'm shot if I do!" answered the dux, turning round to face the trio, and walking backwards up the path; "why should I go more than any other fellow?
Two rival factions in the rear of the room were waging war with paper darts; while a small, sandy-haired boy, whose tangled hair and disordered attire gave him the appearance, as the saying goes, of having been dragged through a furze-bush backwards, rapped vigorously with his knuckles upon the master's table, and inquired loudly how many more times he was to say "Silence!"
When I came down he was cryin' and pullin' the trap backwards towards the hole.
The knife slithered harmlessly over my shoulder, and he fell backwards into the heather.
I made a spring backwards in the first moment of surprise and horror, and in doing so came sharply against the same rough masonry and brambles that had struck me before.
Expecting this, and knowing that the gallows lay behind him, the fugitive had adopted every expedient for baffling his pursuers: he had walked long distances upon tiptoe; had scrambled along walls; had walked backwards, crawled, doubled, leaped; but all in vain!
I saw Mr. Sims fumble under his cloak and take a quick step backwards.
" "Brutus," I called, "if you move again, backwards or forwards, I'll fire," and I backed towards the wall.
" He bowed again, and stepped backwards towards the door.
When thoroughly hot, dish them lightly, and draw the fork backwards over the potatoes to make the surface rough, and serve.
In the first instance, the infant cries out with a quick, short scream, rolls up its eyes, arches its body backwards, its arms become bent and fixed, and the fingers parted; the lips and eyelids assume a dusky leaden colour, while the face remains pale, and the eyes open, glassy, or staring.
Its upper lip is so extremely large, for which reason it is obliged to go backwards when grazing; otherwise by moving onwards, the lip would get doubled up."
The former weary negotiations began again; new envoys hurried backwards and forwards; interminable letters argued the limits of the temporal and spiritual powers in phrases which lost nothing of their arrogance from the fact that neither side had the power to enforce their claims.
Worlds of concentrated bitterness were behind it, and he went over backwards as if he had been struck by a coal-hammer.
Once or twice I got up and crawled a few yards backwards and forwards, but the little additional warmth this performance gave me did not last long.
She lifted up my hand and passed it softly backwards and forwards across her eyes.
We only saved him by dropping an anchor from the stern, and going backwards full speed.
A great business, like a nation, may cherish visions of self-sufficiency, may stretch its tentacles forward to the consumer and backwards to its supplies of raw material; but each fresh extension of its activities serves only to multiply its points of contact with the outside world.
Instantly on the qui-vive, he first cocked his rifle, and, just as he descried the Indian's head above the embankment he pulled with unerring aim the fatal trigger, when with an agonizing howl, the Indian toppled backwards down the embankment, and all was silent.
I passed over with the Governor; after which the boat went backwards and forwards till the whole of the troops were transported across the river, when we encamped, the side which we had quitted being occupied by another little army, headed by the Governor of another district.
I, therefore, had begun, as it were, to read Balzac backwards; instead of beginning with the plain, simple, earthly tragedy of the Père Goriot, I first knelt in a beautiful but distant coigne of the great world of his geniusSeraphita.
Jonas began slowly to turn backwards, keeping his eye on Franco.
But the next instant she checked herself with a violent start that nearly threw her backwards.
"She is backwards and forwards," said Nap.
