backhand

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backhand

1. Sport

a. a stroke made across the body with the back of the hand facing the direction of the stroke

b. (as modifier): a backhand return

2. the side on which backhand strokes are made

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References in classic literature ?

John Baptist, staring at him with eyes opened to their utmost width, made a number of those national, backhanded shakes of the right forefinger in the air, as if he were resolved on negativing beforehand everything that the other could possibly advance during the whole term of his life.

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Peggotty, giving Ham a backhanded knock in the chest, 'is another of 'em, though he don't look much like it.'

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Defending champion Wawrinka (above) lacks the off-court elegance of his fellow Swiss Roger Federer - in fact with his pock-marked face and often strange attire, he looks like he sleeps beneath a dartboard - but his backhand is a thing of beauty, and that's no backhanded compliment.