Meanings
- uncountableusuallywith onThe back of a lion (being ridden, or laden with luggage, as a means of transportation).
[…] lionback. Bronze statue of Wen-shu p'u-sa, bodhisattva Manjushri on lionback. This statue is a good example of the development of the autochthonous Chinese style during the Ming period.
1986, H. A. van Oort, The Iconography of Chinese Buddhism in Traditional China: Han to Liao, BRILL, →ISBN, page 201 more example
SUSAN: Have you ever had a gallop on lionback? LUCY: Well, imagine the padding of great paws. The soft roughness of golden fur, and the mane flying back in the wind. SUSAN: – And you're travelling faster than a train on a mount who never grows tired.
2012 May 28, C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN
Origin
From lion + back, modelled on horseback.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lionback. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lionback
“lionback.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lionback. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lionback,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lionback.
Source: lionback on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.