Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Backward \Back"ward\, Backwards \Back"wards\, adv. [Back, adv. +
   -ward.]
   1. With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride
      backward.

   2. Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms
      backward.

   3. On the back, or with the back downward.

            Thou wilt fall backward.              --Shak.

   4. Toward, or in, past time or events; ago.

            Some reigns backward.                 --Locke.

   5. By way of reflection; reflexively. --Sir J. Davies.

   6. From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame,
      from religion to sin.

            The work went backward.               --Dryden.

   7. In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction;
      contrarily; as, to read backwards.

            We might have . . . beat them backward home. --Shak.

Source : WordNet®

backwards
     adv 1: at or to or toward the back or rear; "he moved back";
            "tripped when he stepped backward"; "she looked
            rearward out the window of the car" [syn: {back}, {backward},
             {rearward}, {rearwards}] [ant: {forward}]
     2: in a manner or order or direction the reverse of normal;
        "it's easy to get the `i' and the `e' backward in words
        like `seize' and `siege'"; "the child put her jersey on
        backward" [syn: {backward}]