backhand Hear it!

backhand definition

back·hand (-hand′)

noun

  1. handwriting that slants backward, up to the left
  2. a kind of stroke, as in tennis, with the back of the hand turned forward, the arm being brought forward from across the body

adjective

  1. done with the back of the hand turned inward, as for a baseball catch, or forward, as for a tennis stroke, and with the arm across the body
  2. written in backhand

adverb

with a backhand

transitive verb

  1. ☆ to catch (a ball) with the back of the hand turned inward and arm extended across the body
  2. to hit (a ball) with a backhand stroke

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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