Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Backward \Back"ward\, v. i.
   To keep back; to hinder. [Obs.]

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.

Backward \Back"ward\, a.
   1. Directed to the back or rear; as, backward glances.

   2. Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating; loath.

            For wiser brutes were backward to be slaves. --Pope.

   3. Not well advanced in learning; not quick of apprehension;
      dull; inapt; as, a backward child. ``The backward
      learner.'' --South.

   4. Late or behindhand; as, a backward season.

   5. Not advanced in civilization; undeveloped; as, the country
      or region is in a backward state.

   6. Already past or gone; bygone. [R.]

            And flies unconscious o'er each backward year.
                                                  --Byron.

Backward \Back"ward\, n.
   The state behind or past. [Obs.]

         In the dark backward and abysm of time.  --Shak.

Source : WordNet®

backward
     adj 1: directed or facing toward the back or rear; "a backward
            view" [ant: {forward}]
     2: (used of temperament or behavior) marked by a retiring
        nature; "a backward lover" [ant: {forward}]
     3: retarded in intellectual development [syn: {feebleminded}]

backward
     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}, {backwards},
             {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: {backwards}]
     3: in or to or toward a past time; "set the clocks back an
        hour"; "never look back"; "lovers of the past looking
        fondly backward" [syn: {back}] [ant: {ahead}, {ahead}]