Meanings
nounbloody back (plural bloody backs)
plural bloody backs · alternative bloody-back
- archaicderogatoryslangA soldier.
[…] how the troops came marching out for evening exercise under Captain Preston; how pedestrians and street urchins taunted them, shouting "Lobsters," "Bloody-backs," and flinging snow-balls, turnips, […]
1912, Ralph Davol, Two Men of Taunton: In the Course of Human Events, 1731-1829, page 214
Origin
From the military practice of flogging as discipline.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
bloody back. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bloody%20back
MLA
“bloody back.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bloody%20back. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bloody back,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bloody%20back.
Source: bloody back on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.