backslash

See also: back slash

English

Alternative forms

back slash

Etymology

From back +‎ slash, because it is a slash going back against the direction of writing, in contrast to the common slash / (“slash, solidus, oblique, forward slash”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbækˌslæʃ/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Rhymes: -æʃ

Noun

backslash (plural backslashes)

The punctuation mark \.
(computing, rare, proscribed) Used erroneously in reference to, or in reading out, the ordinary slash, that is, the punctuation mark /.
- 2001, James T. Bretzke, Bibliography on East Asian Religion and Philosophy, Edwin Mellen Press, →ISBN, page 455:
  […] I was trying to find a web-site for which I had been given the following address: http://www.isop.ucla.edu/pacrim/pubs/korjournal.htm. […] I began to work backwards, removing first the last part of the address following the last backslash (/korjournal.htm).
- 2010, Lee Vance, The Garden of Betrayal, Random House, published 2011, →ISBN, page 25:
  “So, do what I tell you. Open a browser window and type this in the menu^[sic] bar: F-T-P colon backslash backslash euronews dot net backslash...”
  I pecked carefully at the keyboard as he dictated a URL that was about fifty characters long, […]
- 2010, Frank Barnas, Ted White, Broadcast News Writing, Reporting, and Producing, Fifth Edition, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 114:
  Also, avoid submenus^[sic] that can confuse the audience—if you're giving lengthy Web site addresses full of backslashes, shorten it so only the Web site's home page is given.

Usage notes

Sometimes used to indicate the beginning and ending of an area of words being marked for correction.

Synonyms

Antonyms

slash

Coordinate terms

slash

Translations

punctuation mark

Arabic: مَائِلَة مُعَاكِسَة f (māʔila muʕākisa)
Bulgarian: обра́тна черта́ f (obrátna čertá)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 反斜線／反斜线 (zh) (fǎnxiéxiàn), 反斜槓／反斜杠 (zh) (fǎnxiégàng)
Czech: zpětné lomítko n
Dutch: backslash (nl) m, terugschrap m, omgekeerde schuine streep f, schuine streep naar links f, schuine streep naar achter f, terugstreep f
Esperanto: deklivo
Estonian: kurakaldkriips (et), längkriips (et), kurakriips (et),
Faroese: bakskák n
Finnish: kenoviiva (fi)
French: barre oblique inversée (fr) f, contre-oblique (fr) f, backslash (fr) m, antislash (fr) m
German: Backslash (de) m, Rückwärtsschrägstrich m
Greek: αντιπλάγια (el) f (antiplágia), ανάστροφη κάθετος f (anástrofi káthetos)
Hungarian: fordított törtvonal
Italian: barra inversa f
Japanese: バックスラッシュ (ja) (bakkusurasshu), 逆斜線 (ぎゃくしゃせん, gyakushasen)
Korean: 역슬래시 (yeokseullaesi), 역사선(逆斜線) (yeoksaseon)
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: лева коса црта f (leva kosa crta)
Maltese: sinjal djagonali
Norwegian:
Bokmål: bakstrek m
Polish: ukośnik odwrotny m, ukośnik wsteczny m, ukośnik lewy m,
Portuguese: barra invertida f, barra inversa (pt) f
Romanian: bară oblică inversă f, linie oblică inversă f (nonstandard)
Russian: обра́тная коса́я f (obrátnaja kosája), обра́тная коса́я черта́ f (obrátnaja kosája čertá), обра́тный слэш m (obrátnyj slɛš), бе́кслэ́ш m (békslɛ́š)
Slovak: spätná lomka f, opačná lomka f
Slovene: leva poševnica f
Spanish: barra inversa f, barra oblicua inversa f, barra invertida f, barra revertida f, contrabarra (es) f
Thai: แบ็กสแลช
Turkish: ters bölü
Ukrainian: обе́рнена скісна́ ри́ска f (obérnena skisná rýska), бе́кслеш m (béksleš)

Verb

backslash (third-person singular simple present backslashes, present participle backslashing, simple past and past participle backslashed)

(computing, transitive) To escape (a metacharacter) by prepending a backslash that serves as an escape character, thereby forming an escape sequence.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English backslash.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbɛkslɛʃ/
Audio: (file)
Hyphenation: back‧slash

Noun

backslash m (plural backslashes or backslashen, diminutive backslashje n)

backslash

Synonyms