back seat

noun

variants or less commonly backseat
1
: a seat in the back (as of an automobile)
2
: a secondary or inferior position
… the issues and concerns that have sometimes been given a back seatAl Gore
see also take a back seat

Examples of back seat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Your jacket is locked in the back seat. Matthew Shen Goodman, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025 Trowbridge was ejected through the windshield and was found in a nearby tree, while Warren was still belted in the back seat. Tom Olsen, Twin Cities, 18 Sep. 2025 Federal auto safety regulators opened an investigation Tuesday into possible defects in Tesla doors that have reportedly left parents with children trapped in the back seat and forced to break windows to get them out. Dave Smith, Fortune, 17 Sep. 2025 In the most common scenarios reported, parents were unable to reopen the doors of their Tesla to retrieve a child from the back seat or to place them in the back seat. Bloomberg, Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for back seat

Word History

First Known Use

1715, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of back seat was in 1715

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Back seat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/back%20seat. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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