Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun backbone

5 senses of backbone

Sense 1
anchor, mainstay, keystone, backbone, linchpin, lynchpin -- (a central cohesive source of support and stability; "faith is his anchor"; "the keystone of campaign reform was the ban on soft money"; "he is the linchpin of this firm")
       => support -- (something providing immaterial assistance to a person or cause or interest; "the policy found little public support"; "his faith was all the support he needed"; "the team enjoyed the support of their fans")

Sense 2
backbone, grit, guts, moxie, sand, gumption -- (fortitude and determination; "he didn't have the guts to try it")
       => fortitude -- (strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage)

Sense 3
spinal column, vertebral column, spine, backbone, back, rachis -- (the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord; "the fall broke his back")
       => skeletal structure -- (any structure created by the skeleton of an organism)

Sense 4
spine, backbone -- (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")
       => part, portion -- (something less than the whole of a human artifact; "the rear part of the house"; "glue the two parts together")

Sense 5
backbone -- (the part of a network that connects other networks together; "the backbone is the part of a communication network that carries the heaviest traffic")
       => connection, connexion, connector, connecter, connective -- (an instrumentality that connects; "he soldered the connection"; "he didn't have the right connector between the amplifier and the speakers")