backslash
/ˈbækˌslæʃ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.08 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The punctuation mark \ (a left-leaning diagonal line). (Common uses include (1) use as a delimiter in filepaths and (2) use as an escape character to mark literals.)
noun
The punctuation mark /; a slash, forward slash.
verb
To escape (a metacharacter) by prepending a backslash that serves as an escape character, thereby forming an escape sequence.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "[…] I was trying to find a web-site for which I had been given the following address: http://www.isop.ucla.edu/pacrim/pubs/korjournal.htm. […] I began to work backwards, removing first the last part of the address following the last backslash (/korjournal.htm)."
- "“So, do what I tell you. Open a browser window and type this in the menu^([sic]) bar: F-T-P colon backslash backslash euronews dot net backslash...” I pecked carefully at the keyboard as he dictated a URL that was about fifty characters long, […]"
- "Also, avoid submenus^([sic]) that can confuse the audience—if you're giving lengthy Web site addresses full of backslashes, shorten it so only the Web site's home page is given."
Etymology
From back + slash, because it is a slash “leaning back” against the direction of writing (in writing lines from left to right), in contrast to the more common (forward) slash / (“solidus, oblique, diagonal”). The actual direction of (hand-)writing these marks can be reversed, when writing from left to right, top to baseline: the backslash forwards, the (forward) slash backwards. The naming can be explained as an anthropomorphism, assuming a bar (|) standing on the baseline, facing in the direction of writing, toppling backwards or forwards, respectively. The (new) Unicode name of \ is REVERSE SOLIDUS.