noun
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Also called: back crawl. swimming
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a stroke performed on the back, using backward circular strokes of each arm alternately and flipper movements of the feet
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( as modifier )
the backstroke champion
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a return stroke or blow
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a backhanded stroke
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Leisure:Bell-ringing the upward movement of the bell rope as the bell swings back and forth Compare handstroke
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of backstroke
Explanation
When you swim the backstroke, you lie on your back in the water and move your arms up and back over your head while you kick your feet. It's hard to see where you're going when you do the backstroke. If you swim competitively on a swim team, the backstroke is one of the four official strokes for racing. Some swimmers prefer the backstroke because it's easier to breathe than when you swim face-down, though it's harder to tell how close you are to the pool wall. You can also use backstroke as a verb: "I'll just backstroke over to the shallow end and say hi to my friend."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"At this time, you know, the waves are massive, and I have no life jacket on. So anyway, I just keep swimming. I do breaststroke. I do freestyle. Survival backstroke."
From Barron's ● Feb. 3, 2026
Hungarian Hubert Kos also got in on the world record action, winning the 100m backstroke in 48.16sec to complete a perfect nine-for-nine run in this season's World Cup backstroke events.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2025
Australian Kaylee McKeown clocked a sizzling 25.42sec to win the women's 50m backstroke at the World Cup short course meeting in Carmel, Indiana, on Friday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2025
Garfield has no pool but it didn’t stop Kelia Naranjo from winning City Section 100 backstroke title.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2025
Grandpa Dodzi flipped over and did a backstroke, then floated on the water as if lying on a bed.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
She became the first swimmer ever to sweep all three backstrokes at the worlds.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 29, 2023
Four years later, Larkin, 22, is the reigning world champion and the world No. 1 in the 100 and 200 backstrokes.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2016
“And I’m sure that over there at the Goldfish Market” — so named for the many aquariums selling goldfish and tropical fish — “the goldfish are probably swimming backstrokes now.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 8, 2014
The few swimming duets she performed, as with Montalban in Neptune’s Daughter, comprised little more than synchronized backstrokes and ardent glances.
From Time ● Jun. 13, 2013
A quarter-mile upstream, Mr. Barra flipped over and backstroked.
From New York Times ● Jul. 16, 2011
He backstroked powerfully down the pool, rolled and executed a strong crawl.
From Time Magazine Archive
Results Supercross Semi 1 The Rock, Mike LaRocco snatched the lead on lap two of the first Supercross Semi, and backstroked in for a relatively mindless victory.
From Time Magazine Archive
Not that we’ve been backstroking in sun-drenched serenity.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2022
The furry creatures delight newbie onlookers by backstroking, preening and doing all kinds of innocuous things a four-foot-long, 75-pound whiskered marine mammal is capable of.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2022
She loves backstroking, in particular, looking up at the sky and the birds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2021
They trade playful banter and lines from Shel Silverstein poems, generally backstroking through a stream of meet-cute blah-dee-blah without meeting or connecting on FaceTime.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2021
Dig down five feet and you’re backstroking in the ancient currents of the Flushing River.
From New York Times ● Apr. 30, 2013
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.