(backgrounds)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
Your background is the kind of family you come from and the kind of education you have had. It can also refer to such things as your social and racial origins, your financial status, or the type of work experience that you have.
She came from a working-class background...
His background was in engineering.
N-COUNT: usu sing, usu with supp
2.
The background to an event or situation consists of the facts that explain what caused it.
The meeting takes place against a background of continuing political violence.
...background information.
N-COUNT: usu sing, with supp, oft against N
3.
The background is sounds, such as music, which you can hear but which you are not listening to with your full attention.
I kept hearing the sound of applause in the background...
The background music was provided by an accordion player.
? foreground
N-SING: the N
4.
You can use background to refer to the things in a picture or scene that are less noticeable or important than the main things or people in it.
...roses patterned on a blue background...
? foreground
N-COUNT: usu sing
•
Someone who stays in the background avoids being noticed, although the things that they do are important or influential.
Rosemary likes to stay in the background.
PHRASE