Meaning & use
backchannel
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Meanings
nouncountable
A private or unofficial route of communication running alongside the main, official one.
Grammar: Countable: a backchannel, several backchannels.
Patterns
- a backchannel to someone
- through a backchannel
The two governments kept a backchannel open during the talks.
Employees used a private backchannel to share concerns.
They sent their offer through a backchannel.
nouncountabletechnicalspecialist
Short responses like mm-hm or yeah that a listener gives to show they are following.
Grammar: Countable in linguistics: backchannels in conversation.
Patterns
- backchannel signals
Saying mm-hm is a typical backchannel.
Phone calls need more spoken backchannels because you cannot see faces.
The linguist counted the backchannels in the recording.
verbintransitiveinformal
To communicate privately or unofficially with someone.
Grammar: No object: they backchannel during meetings.
Patterns
- backchannel with someone
Staff backchannel in a chat window during meetings.
He backchanneled with the reporter before the announcement.
They backchanneled for weeks before the deal was public.
Word forms
| plural | backchannels |
|---|---|
| third person singular | backchannels |
| past tense | backchanneled |
| -ing form | backchanneling |
Common combinations
- open a backchannel
- The team opened a backchannel to share notes.
- backchannel communication
- Backchannel communication kept the talks alive.
- use a backchannel
- They used a backchannel to avoid the press.
- backchannel chat
- A backchannel chat ran beside the webinar.
Synonyms and how they differ
- side channel
- Side channel is plainer, while backchannel often implies secrecy or politics.
- informal channel
- Informal channel stresses lack of official status, not privacy.
- aside
- An aside is a brief private remark, a smaller thing than a continuing backchannel.
Opposites
Word family
- channel noun
- a route for communication
- back-channeling noun
- the act of giving listener signals
- backchannel verb
- to communicate privately
Commonly confused: backchannel or back channel?
backchannel vs back channel
The spaced form is also seen, but backchannel is the usual one-word form.
Practice
A listener says mm-hm while you tell a story. What is this?
Choose one answer.
Short listener sounds are a backchannel. An interruption cuts in, a rebuttal argues against, and a headline is the title of an article.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “backchannel”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.