And dropped an awkward courtesy. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not easily managed or effected; embarrassing. [ 1913 Webster ]

A long and awkward process. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

An awkward affair is one that has gone wrong, and is difficult to adjust. C. J. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Perverse; adverse; untoward. [ Obs. ] “Awkward casualties.” “Awkward wind.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

O blind guides, which being of an awkward religion, do strain out a gnat, and swallow up a cancel. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Ungainly; unhandy; clownish; lubberly; gawky; maladroit; bungling; inelegant; ungraceful; unbecoming. -- Awkward, Clumsy, Uncouth. Awkward has a special reference to outward deportment. A man is clumsy in his whole person, he is awkward in his gait and the movement of his limbs. Clumsiness is seen at the first view. Awkwardness is discovered only when a person begins to move. Hence the expressions, a clumsy appearance, and an awkward manner. When we speak figuratively of an awkward excuse, we think of a lack of ease and grace in making it; when we speak of a clumsy excuse, we think of the whole thing as coarse and stupid. We apply the term uncouth most frequently to that which results from the lack of instruction or training; as, uncouth manners; uncouth language. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Awk"ward*ly adv. -- Awk"ward*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating; loath. [ 1913 Webster ]

For wiser brutes were backward to be slaves. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not well advanced in learning; not quick of apprehension; dull; inapt; as, a backward child. “The backward learner.” South. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Late or behindhand; as, a backward season. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Not advanced in civilization; undeveloped; as, the country or region is in a backward state. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Already past or gone; bygone. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And flies unconscious o'er each backward year. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms backward. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. On the back, or with the back downward. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou wilt fall backward. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Toward, or in, past time or events; ago. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some reigns backward. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. By way of reflection; reflexively. Sir J. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame, from religion to sin. [ 1913 Webster ]

The work went backward. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction; contrarily; as, to read backwards. [ 1913 Webster ]

We might have . . . beat them backward home. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the dark backward and abysm of time. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Perversely; ill. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And does he think so backwardly of me? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem.) To clean (a filter, a chromatography column, a water softener, etc.) by passing liquid through in the reverse of the normal direction of flow. This procedure dislodges particles which clog the pores of the filter or column packing, removing them from the filter or column. [ PJC ]

2. (Aeron.) The backward flowing air within the wash of an airplane, caused mostly by the engine. [ PJC ]

2. An accumulation of water overflowing the low lands, caused by an obstruction. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Water thrown back by the turning of a waterwheel, or by the paddle wheels of a steamer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. to color with blackwash. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. Study; application to books. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A student closely attached to books or addicted to study; a reader without appreciation. [ 1913 Webster ]

I wanted but a black gown and a salary to be as mere a bookworm as any there. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Niches in brickwork form the most difficult part of the bricklayer's art. Tomlinson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of building with or laying bricks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The triangular seed used, when ground, for griddle cakes, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any one of several trees or shrubs having light or corky wood; esp.: (a) In the United States, the tree Leitneria floridana, a very small deciduous dioecious tree or shrub of damp habitats in the southeastern US having extremely light wood; -- called also the corkwood tree. (b) In the West Indies: (1) Either of the cotton trees Ochroma lagopus and Pariti tiliaceum. (2) The tree producing the aligator apple. (3) The blolly. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. + WordNet 1.5 ]