backpack

• back pack

From back +‎ pack.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbæk.pæk/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

backpack (plural backpacks)

1. A knapsack, sometimes mounted on a light frame, but always supported by straps, worn on a person’s back for the purpose of carrying things, especially when hiking, or on a student's back when carrying books.
   • 2011, Thelma J. Miller, What's in Your Backpack?, page 8:

     Rachel discovered that she could also keep things in her backpack that were important to her, nobody would know about them because they would be hidden. These important things included a small round rock that she had found […]

2. A similarly placed item containing a parachute or other life-support equipment.

• haversack
• knapsack (US)
• packsack
• rucksack
• bookbag

backpack (third-person singular simple present backpacks, present participle backpacking, simple past and past participle backpacked)

1. (intransitive) to hike and camp overnight in backcountry with one's gear carried in a backpack
2. (intransitive) to engage in low-cost, generally urban, travel with minimal luggage and frugal accommodations
3. (transitive) to place or carry (an item or items) in a backpack