Meanings
- anatomyThe relatively narrow, lumbar region of the back.
He remembered the smell of her skin in the overheated darkness of a coffin near the port, her fingers locked across the small of his back.
1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 91 more example
The plan was not feasible, for making a ninety-degree turn would have been impossible without nickel-alloy swivels inserted in the small of every man's back, and Lieutenant Scheisskopf was not sanguine at all about obtaining that many nickel-alloy swivels from Quartermaster or enlisting the co-operation of the surgeons at the hospital.
1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “McWatt”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 70Synonyms: low back, lower back, lumbar
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe relatively narrow, lumbar region of the back.
Cite this entry
small of the back. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20of%20the%20back
“small of the back.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20of%20the%20back. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “small of the back,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20of%20the%20back.
Source: small of the back on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.