Moved or caused to flow backward; hindered or held back in progress or movement.
From 'backwater' (back + water), originally referring to water that flows backward, combined with the past tense suffix '-ed'. Used since the 1800s in nautical and figurative contexts.
The term captures something real about how rivers work—water doesn't just flow one direction, and a dam upstream can literally 'backwater' a river for miles, flooding communities that never expected it.
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