backˈboneless, a.
[f. as prec. + -less.]
Destitute of backbone or strength of character. Hence backˈbonelessness.
| 1882 Standard 3 Mar. 3/6 Backbonelessness and apathy. 1882 J. Payn For Cash Only III. xlviii. 260 Mildred's pride was of the most backboneless description, a mere social conceit. 1886 Punch 17 July 28/2 Think of a backboneless man, unable ‘to swim against the stream’. 1903 W. T. Arnold German Ambitions 89 Backboneless submissiveness to Britain. 1925 Glasgow Herald 1 Aug. 4/2 It [sc. hæmoglobin] has analogues like hæmocyanin (in many backboneless animals). |