back of

preposition

US, informal

: behind

… stood leaning against a parked car out back of the building …

—Peter Goldman et al.

They now sit … just two games back of the Yankees in the wild card race.

—Steve Buckley

Synonyms of back of

• in back of
• behind

Examples of back of in a Sentence

the equipment shed is a concrete structure back of the school

Recent Examples on the Web

The homeowner, who wished to remain anonymous, said that his home surveillance cameras captured the group of at least four masked men trying to enter through the back of his home. — Lauren Pozen, CBS News, 17 Aug. 2026

But unlike Tyesha, who had been shot in the back of the head, Mosser’s dad purposely did not return home, and only reappeared after getting arrested for faking his death and stealing another man’s identity. — Denise Crosby, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2026

Time magazine had portrayed her impulse to climb out the back of the presidential limo as heroic. — Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026

The athlete had a rare cancer known as nasopharyngeal cancer, which affects the tissue that connects the back of the nose to the back of the mouth, per Cleveland Clinic. — Julie Tremaine, PEOPLE, 16 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1694, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for back of

• above
• foxglove
• hereof
• thereof
• whereof
• dove
• glove
• love
• shove
• hereinabove

Kids Definition

back of

preposition

informal

: behind entry 2 sense 1

out back of the barn