D defs.my
Entry 2 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Backbite

· Back·bite · IPA /bˈækbˌaɪt/
01 v. t. To wound by clandestine detraction; to censure meanly or spitefully (an absent person); to slander or speak evil of (one absent).
  1. 1.
    To wound by clandestine detraction; to censure meanly or spitefully (an absent person); to slander or speak evil of (one absent).
02 v. i. To censure or revile the absent.
  1. 1.
    To censure or revile the absent.
    “They are arrant knaves, and will backbite.” Shak.