backbone

noun

Key Types & categories Parts & wholes Related & opposite

Line style: core relation; instance, member or derived; substance, domain or see-also

Direction: arrow points to the broader concept; Click any word to expand it.

Senses

a central cohesive source of support and stability

faith is his anchor

fortitude and determination

he didn't have the guts to try it

the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord

the fall broke his back

the part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved

the title and author were printed on the spine of the book

the part of a network that connects other networks together

the backbone is the part of a communication network that carries the heaviest traffic

Sense	Relation	Group	Word
1	derivation	Related & opposite	anchor
1	hypernym	Types & categories	support
2	derivation	Related & opposite	game
2	derivation	Related & opposite	gutsy
2	domain usage	Related & opposite	colloquialism
2	hypernym	Types & categories	fortitude
3	derivation	Related & opposite	spinal
3	part holonym	Parts & wholes	axial skeleton
3	part meronym	Parts & wholes	spinal canal
3	part meronym	Parts & wholes	coccyx
3	part meronym	Parts & wholes	vertebra
3	part meronym	Parts & wholes	intervertebral disc
3	hypernym	Types & categories	skeletal structure
3	hyponym	Types & categories	notochord
3	hyponym	Types & categories	chine
4	part holonym	Parts & wholes	book
4	hypernym	Types & categories	part
5	part holonym	Parts & wholes	meshwork
5	hypernym	Types & categories	connector