Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun historical, US, colloquial A Confederate soldier during the US Civil War (because of the grey uniforms).
  • noun dated A louse.
  • noun A local name for various grey birds.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sandpiper that breeds in the Arctic and winters in the southern hemisphere
  • noun a dowitcher with a grey back
  • noun `Johnny' was applied as a nickname for Confederate soldiers by the Federal soldiers in the American Civil War; `greyback' derived from their grey Confederate uniforms

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From grey +‎ back.

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Examples

  • The rasp of his own "greyback" shirt and the squeak of his boots seemed to bring him to himself.

    Indian Tales Rudyard Kipling 1900

  • Originally from South America, cane toads were imported to Australia in 1935 in an attempt to rid the country of the greyback beetle, which was destroying the sugarcane crop.

    Amphibian 2008

  • Threading her way through the crowded streets, heeding not the jeers or insults of the rebel soldiery, she soon came in front of the Cooper Mansion, to find a rebel flag floating from an upper window, and a well dressed soldierly looking greyback, with bayonet fixed, pacing his beat in front.

    Red-Tape and Pigeon-Hole Generals As Seen From the Ranks During a Campaign in the Army of the Potomac William H. Armstrong

  • Introduced into Australia in the '30s from Puerto Rico and Hawaii to combat the sugar cane-devouring greyback cane beetle, the toads reproduced at such a rate that, within a few decades, they threatened, as the title of the new film suggests, to take over the country.

    Variety.com 2010

  • And they arrive at the three broom sticks before hogwarts and see the dark mark when they arrive at the school theres a hug battle bewteen death eaters and hogwarts staff and the order … they even missed out the fact that bill weasley gets his face ripped up by fenir greyback, i mean what are they going to do in HP7? missed out the scene where bill and fleur get married? gobsmacked and hugely disappointed but left totally macking on rupert grint who has got lush!

    “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is worst of the series » Scene-Stealers 2009

  • OH but wait they made up for it by the burrow getting randomly attacked by fenrir greyback and bellatrix lestrange which makes no sense at all … Idk just big plot holes with the memories and the horocruxes playing a minor role in this film when it should have been the focal point. but oh well i guess i’ll just have to pray for the next 2 too be better ….

    “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is worst of the series » Scene-Stealers 2009

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