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View synonyms for mossback

mossback

[ maws-bak, mos- ]

noun

  1. Informal.
    1. a person holding very antiquated notions; reactionary.
    2. a person living in the backwoods; rustic.
  2. an old turtle.
  3. Angling. a large and old fish, as a bass.
  4. a wild bull or cow.


mossback

/ ˈmɒsˌbæk /

noun

  1. an old turtle, shellfish, etc, that has a growth of algae on its back
  2. informal.
    a provincial or conservative person
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˈmossˌbacked, adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of mossback1

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75; moss + back 1
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Example Sentences

"I know that sort of crazy old mossback," muttered Welton as he turned down the mountain.

Two or three miles away was a little clearing where a mossback lived.

Again the mossback appeared in the doorway, shivering a little in his night-shirt.

But the asset side of our "mossback's" yearly balance sheet always made the liability side ashamed of itself.

The mossback, who according to popular belief hid himself in the woods until moss grew on his back, might or might not be a tory.

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moss animalMössbauer