Meaning & use
back order
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A customer's order for goods that are temporarily out of stock and will be sent once the seller gets more.
Grammar: Often used in the phrase on back order: the sofa is on back order.
Patterns
- on back order
- place a back order for something
The blue chairs are on back order until the end of the month.
We placed a back order for fifty copies of the textbook.
Customers with a back order will get an email when the item ships.
verbtransitive
To record a customer's request for an out-of-stock item so that it can be supplied when new stock arrives.
Grammar: Takes an object: the store back-ordered the printer.
Patterns
- back-order something
- back-order something for someone
The shop will back-order the part if it isn't on the shelf.
I asked them to back-order a size ten in black.
Because the model is popular, many retailers have back-ordered it.
Word forms
| plural | back orders |
|---|---|
| third person singular | back-orders |
| past tense | back-ordered |
| past participle | back-ordered |
| -ing form | back-ordering |
Common combinations
- on back order
- The laptop is on back order for three weeks.
- place a back order
- She placed a back order for the missing volume.
- item on back order
- Any item on back order ships free.
- fill a back order
- The warehouse filled the back order as soon as stock arrived.
- back-order status
- Check the back-order status on your account page.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pre-order
- A pre-order is for something not yet released, while a back order is for something that normally exists but has run out.
- special order
- A special order is for an item the store does not usually stock, whereas a back order is for a regular item that is temporarily unavailable.
- backlog
- Backlog describes the pile of unfilled orders as a whole, not one customer's order.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: back order or back order vs. rain check?
back order vs back order vs. rain check
A rain check is a promise to honor a sale price later, while a back order is a request for goods that are out of stock.
Practice
The website says the desk is currently ___, so it will ship in two weeks.
Choose one answer.
On back order means out of stock but promised once new supplies arrive. In stock would mean it ships right away.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “back order”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.