Definition of Background

Background

Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front.

The space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures.

Anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings.

A place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight.

Related Definitions:

And, Anything, As, Background, Behind, Distance, Foil, Foreground, Front, Ground, Group, Had, In, Is, Obscurity, Of, Opposed, Or, Out, Place, Portrait, Rear, Red, Retirement, Serving, Sight, Space, Statue, Subordinate, The, To, Which

Background Quotations

Man's unique reward, however, is that while animals survive by adjusting themselves to their background, man survives by adjusting his background to himself.
Ayn Rand

Surely the President can agree with us, that theft from government is not good. I know it's bold. It's out on the edge. I know from a Chicago-Springfield background it's hard to fully grasp that honesty could be part of government.
Newt Gingrich

No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic background, America brings out the best in people.
Arnold Schwarzenegger

Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government.
James Madison

Time is but the shadow of the world upon the background of Eternity.
Jerome K. Jerome

The discipline of desire is the background of character.
John Locke

I'm inclined to think that a military background wouldn't hurt anyone.
William Faulkner

The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion or ethnic background, is that we all believe we are above-average drivers.
Dave Barry

Let a man get up and say, Behold, this is the truth, and instantly I perceive a sandy cat filching a piece of fish in the background. Look, you have forgotten the cat, I say.
Virginia Woolf

In the dim background of mind we know what we ought to be doing but somehow we cannot start.
William James

And in my own life, in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us - no matter what our age or background or walk of life - each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.
Michelle Obama

I'll also tell you that five hundred thousand people will die this year of cancer. And I'll also tell you that one in every four will be afflicted with this disease, and yet, somehow, we seem to have put it in a little bit of the background.
Jim Valvano

Yeah, well I've always played comedy. My background is musical comedy theatre and that's really where my training is. As an actor, that's my training.
Christopher Walken

The business of the advertiser is to see that we go about our business with some magic spell or tune or slogan throbbing quietly in the background of our minds.
Marshall McLuhan

I just hope that our fans are people who are inspired by music, and just use our music as a background or inspiration for whatever it is they do.
Maynard James Keenan

It takes a couple of years just to get the background and knowledge that you need before you can go into detailed training for your mission.
Sally Ride

My background is in physics, so I was the mission specialist, who is sort of like the flight engineer on an airplane.
Sally Ride

On a standard space shuttle crew, two of the astronauts have a test pilot background - the commander and the pilot.
Sally Ride

To play June, I had an immediate connect with her background and culture. We grew up with the same religion and shared a lot of the same values of family and spirituality. But I was really so inspired by what a modern woman she was.
Reese Witherspoon

I didn't want to go out and change anything. I just wanted to make the music that was part of my background, which was rock and blues and hip-hop.
Kid Rock

I want to state upfront, unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge, regardless of their background or life experiences.
Sonia Sotomayor

Your background and environment is with you for life. No question about that.
Sean Connery

When I was trying to impress Kate I was trying to cook these amazing fancy dinners and what would happen was I would burn something, something would overspill, something would catch on fire and she would be sitting in the background trying to help, and basically taking control of the whole situation, so I was quite glad she was there at the time.
Prince William

The old interests of aristocracy - the romance of action, the exalted passions of chivalry and war - faded into the background, and their place was taken by the refined and intimate pursuits of peace and civilization.
Lytton Strachey

I had a big background in listening to classical music and I started trying to compose, like I was playing the guitar but I heard an orchestra in my head.
John Fahey

Without the meditative background that is criticism, works become isolated gestures, historical accidents, soon forgotten.
Milan Kundera

Stage work, that's all I have in my background. Wasteland was my first TV experience. Dawson's was my first long-term, I mean the entire season of 22 episodes.
Sasha Alexander

One difference between poetry and lyrics is that lyrics sort of fade into the background. They fade on the page and live on the stage when set to music.
Stephen Sondheim

My introduction to track racing was through the background of cross country running, which is not a sport perhaps as popular in America as it is in England.
Roger Bannister

My athleticism was really the core to social acceptance, because in those days the overwhelming number of students came from more of a public school background than I did.
Roger Bannister

More Background Quotations

Background Translations

background in Afrikaans is agtergrond
background in Dutch is achtergrond
background in Finnish is tausta
background in German is Hintergrund
background in Italian is sfondo
background in Norwegian is bakgrunn
background in Portuguese is fundo
background in Spanish is fondo, antecedentes, trasfondo
background in Swedish is bakgrund

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