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backstop

/ˈbæk.stɒp/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about backstop at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. (baseball) the person who plays the position of catcher.
  2. (baseball) a fence or screen (as behind home plate) to prevent the ball from traveling out of the playing field.
  3. A precaution in case of an emergency.
    he acted as a backstop in case anything went wrong

verb

  1. Act as a backstop.

Origin

From back + stop.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)