Water that flows backward or is pushed back by a wave, boat, or other force; also refers to unpleasant consequences or effects that return to the source.
From 'back' (Old English bæc) + 'wash' (Old English wascan). The term emerged in the 19th century to describe the literal backward flow of water, then became used metaphorically for negative repercussions.
Backwash shows how physical phenomena inspire our language for abstract ideas—we use the image of water flowing backward to describe how bad situations come back to haunt us, the same way ripples from a speedboat wash backward onto the shore.
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