Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: SOCIOLOGY

background

 noun
     
back‧ground S2 W2
1 [countable]SS someone's family, education, previous work etcCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
have a background (in something) with a background (in something) (be/come) from different backgrounds social background cultural background educational background ethnic background family background class background deprived/disadvantaged background (=not having many advantages) privileged background (=having many advantages) working-class/middle-class background
Steve has a background in computer engineering.
Students with a background in chemistry will probably find the course easier.
It's important to understand other people, people from different backgrounds.
people from different ethnic and social backgrounds
Cultural background might account for some of the variations noted in the studies.
the educational background of top executives
They told me everything there was to know about the child's family background.
a program that helps students from disadvantaged backgrounds
2 [uncountable and countable] the situation or past events that explain why something happens in the way that it does
background to
Without knowing the background to the case, I couldn't possibly comment.
against a background of something
The peace talks are being held against a background of increasing violence.
background information/details/data etc
The author included a new chapter of background material for the second edition of the book.
3 [countable usually singular] the area that is behind the main thing that you are looking at, especially in a picture:
The background looks out of focus.
in the background
In the background you can see my college friends.
4 [countable]AVC the pattern or colour on top of which something has been drawn, printed etc:
red lettering on a white background
5

in the background

someone who keeps or stays in the background tries not to be noticed:
The President's advisors are content to remain in the background.
6 [uncountable and countable]C the sounds that you can hear apart from the main thing that you are listening to
in the background
In the background I could hear the sound of traffic.
All of the background noise made it difficult to have a phone conversation.
Definition of background from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic SOCIOLOGY

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abdicate affirmative action background bohemian bondage caste conditioning culture disease formative gentleman gentry geriatric grey hermit hierarchy hippie Honourable independence inequality infrastructure inner city institution integrate literacy matrix mobile mortality order outreach politics progress rank reaction rear receive redneck revolution service sexual sister slave slavery social(a) social(n) social science social studies social work social worker society socio- socioeconomic sociology stratified subgroup support group tramp uncle unconventional white-collar working class

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