Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lacking backing or support.
  • adjective Not having a back.
  • adjective Never having been ridden, as a horse.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not having been backed; not taught to bear a rider; unbroken.
  • Unsupported; left without aid; unaided; in sporting, not supported by bets: as, an unbacked horse.
  • Not moved back or backward.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Never mounted by a rider; unbroken.
  • adjective Not supported or encouraged; not countenanced; unaided.

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

  • adjective Having no back
  • adjective Having no (or few) backers

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

  • adjective unsupported by other people

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

un- +‎ backed

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Examples

  • But the very first number of _Punch_, as we have seen, rejoiced in a cartoon as we now understand it -- that is to say, a large full-page or double-page block of a satirical nature, usually placed in the middle opening of the paper, and for the most part still further dignified by being "unbacked" by other printing.

    The History of "Punch" M. H. Spielmann

  • There would have been no depression, no unbacked dollar, no WW2, no cold war, no military industrial complex and no Israeli tail wagging the American dog.

    The Greatest Blunder in British History « Antiwar.com Blog 2009

  • I originally caught wind of this case some time ago from the works of Ted Butler and I've blogged, blogged again and blogged more on this and other schemes by banks to sell non existent bullion and unbacked bullion certificates to unwary investors.

    Morgan Stanley, selling bullion they don't have and getting away with it Canadian silver bug/Green Assassin Brigade 2009

  • I originally caught wind of this case some time ago from the works of Ted Butler and I've blogged, blogged again and blogged more on this and other schemes by banks to sell non existent bullion and unbacked bullion certificates to unwary investors.

    Archive 2009-07-19 Canadian silver bug/Green Assassin Brigade 2009

  • An executive order made it illegal for anyone to “hoard” gold and forced everyone to turn in gold and gold certificates to the government at an exchange value of $20.67 per ounce of gold in return for unbacked paper currency and bank deposits.

    RETURN TO PROSPERITY Arthur B. Laffer 2010

  • So anything less then making unbacked, bellicose threats is now defined as “the Chamberlain approach”??

    McCain Slams Obama on National Security - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

  • Why do people support an unbacked currency that can be created at will by politicians?

    Random Media Notes xtra 2008

  • Its bogus and its one of the inconviniences they use to drive you towards unbacked silver certificates.

    Silver moments: Meeting another believer Canadian silver bug/Green Assassin Brigade 2008

  • Yet we are supposed to accept your unbacked and self-serving assertions?

    A Sociological Phenomenon 2008

  • "There are already signs that the scale of future deficits, unbacked as yet by clear strategies on how they may be corrected, are having an impact on the effectiveness of our short-term measures – seen in the dissonance between the Bank of England and government messages and bond market reactions."

    Brown urged to make "difficult choices" on spending 2009

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