backsplash

B3A1C3K5S1P3L1A1S1H4
US/ˈbækˌsplæʃ/

noun

A vertical covering on a wall rising above a countertop or other work surface to protect the wall from spills and to decorate the wall.

UncommonScrabble 23

Meanings

nounbacksplash (countable and uncountable, plural backsplashes)

plural backsplashes

  1. countableuncountableA vertical covering on a wall rising above a countertop or other work surface to protect the wall from spills and to decorate the wall.
  2. countableuncountablehobbiesThe small splash of water that occurs when an oar enters the water to begin a stroke, just before the rower reaches the catch.
verbbacksplash (third-person singular simple present backsplashes, present participle backsplashing, simple past and past participle backsplashed)

present singular third person backsplashes · participle present backsplashing · participle past backsplashed · past backsplashed

  1. ambitransitiveTo splash backward.

    More importantly, the use of the delta tube prevents dangerous backsplashing of the agent that can occur when an impinging sparger is used improperly.

    2004, Yin Sun, Detection Technologies for Chemical Warfare Agents and Toxic Vapors, page 92
    1 more example

    He succeeded in cutting the pad of his right palm quite badly on the blade of a paring knife before seizing two of the C-cells, but he felt this no more than he felt the burns he had sustained when he had been backsplashed.

    1990, Stephen King, The Moving Finger

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeg-der.?
  2. Proto-Germanic*baką
  3. Proto-West Germanic*bak
  4. Old Englishbæc
  5. Middle Englishbak
  6. Englishback
  7. Englishsplash
  8. Englishbacksplash

From back + splash.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French crédence
  • crédencewall covering
Hungarian hátfal
  • hátfalwall covering
Polish płyta ochronna
  • płyta ochronnawall covering
Spanish salpicadero
  • salpicaderowall covering

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with backsplash

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

backsplash. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backsplash

MLA

“backsplash.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backsplash. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “backsplash,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backsplash.

Source: backsplash on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.