[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/backlog/)

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# backlog

noun (a backlog, backlogs)

«backlog» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A pile of work or jobs that should have been done already and are still waiting. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#m1)
2. A list of things still to be done in order, such as orders, emails or tasks. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#m2)
3. A backlog is a large log placed at the back of a fireplace to burn slowly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#m3)

### In the lessons

In everyday and adult life, a backlog builds up when there is too much work and too little time, for example at the post office or a hospital. At school a pupil can have a backlog of homework after being ill. In computing, a «backlog» is the team's list of jobs to do. Phrases: «a backlog of», «clear the backlog».

### Examples

- After a week off sick, I had a backlog of homework. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#x1)
- The post office has a huge backlog of parcels before Christmas. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#x2)
- The plumbers are busy clearing a backlog of jobs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#x3)
- Dad spent Sunday working through his backlog of emails. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#x4)
- There is a long backlog of patients waiting at the hospital. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#x5)
- Our game-making team keeps a backlog of ideas. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#x6)
- Snow caused a backlog of trains at the station. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#x7)
- The next thing she did was to rake back the red embers, and make a hollow place among them, just where the backlog had been. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/#x8)

### Note

Countable: a backlog, backlogs; usually «a backlog of» something. Not about logs of wood or the back of anything. In maths problems a backlog is the amount still left over: if 40 orders came and 25 were done, the backlog is 15.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «backlog» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/backlog/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«backlog» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/backlog.html) on Mova free.