Backward \Back"ward\, Backwards \Back"wards\, adv. [Back, adv. + -ward.]

1. With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride backward.

2. Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms backward.

3. On the back, or with the back downward.

Thou wilt fall backward. --Shak.

4. Toward, or in, past time or events; ago.

Some reigns backward. --Locke.

5. By way of reflection; reflexively. --Sir J. Davies.

6. From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame, from religion to sin.

The work went backward. --Dryden.

7. In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction; contrarily; as, to read backwards.

We might have . . . beat them backward home. --Shak.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)