whiteback

English

Etymology 1

From white +‎ back.

Noun

whiteback (countable and uncountable, plural whitebacks)

Various species that have a white back, including:
1. A wild duck, the canvasback (Aythya valisineria)
  - 1978, North Dakota Outdoors - Volumes 41-42, page 7:
    […] , slopehead,. whiteback, thunder duck, and gourmet's delight have been used to characterize the canvasback which has been described as the gold standard by which other species are compared .
2. The white-backed duck. (Thalassornis leuconotus)
  - 1972, Bulletin - International Waterfowl Research Bureau, page 68:
    The creation of managed habitats shows that most duck species will take to them, the main exceptions being the Pygmy Goose and the Whiteback Duck.
3. The white-backed griffon vulture (Gyps africanus)
  - 1999, Alice Friman, Zoo, page 6:
    One snake-necked Whiteback teeters on the head then, steady, dips into the socket.
  - 2012, Richard Ives, Of Tigers and Men:
    The whiteback is a close relative of a vulture you may have seen in Africa.
  - 2013, George Makana Clark, The Raw Man, page 168:
    The grass rippled and whispered, a mystery on this windless day, and an uneasieness settled over me as the whitebacks rose clumsily into the air, abandoning their carrion.
4. A Lithuanian breed of cattle, (Lietuvos baltnugariai galvijai)
  - 2024, Marleen Felius, Cattle Breeds of the World, page 122:
    In the early 20th centruy the number of white-backs was fairly large, though not recognized as a bree, these Baltic landrace cattle accounted for about 10% of the national herd.
A type of paperboard used in packaging that has a smooth white surface on one side and a brown or unbleached surface on the other side.
Coordinate term: greyback
- 1997, PIMA's, page 21:
  Overall, the downgrading has favored FBB and, in particular, whiteback folding boxboard, which can offer a very good whiteness and therefore good print qualities compared with SBB .
- 2003, Appita Journal, page 9:
  It will give Amcor Cartonboard the ability to produce superior quality whiteback board to that currently made at Petrie, opening up new market opportunities for the company.
- 2008, Paper Technology, page 54:
  It produces grayback and whiteback coated duplex of 250-400 gsm.
(uncountable, chiefly attributive) A type of denim that is indigo on one side, and pale on the back.
- 1961, Research Bulletin - Issues 871-880, page 23:
  The whiteback navy jeans were selected most often;
- 1962, The Boys' Outfitter - Volume 77, page 103:
  Of heavy-weight, 111/4-oz. whiteback denim, with the fabric strengthened with 25 percent DuPont 420 nylon, the jeans will not wear or wash white, the company said.
- 1971, Montgomery Ward Catalog, page 479:
  Vat-dyed whiteback denim stays colorfast .

Etymology 2

Blend of white +‎ wetback.

Noun

whiteback (countable and uncountable, plural whitebacks)

(humorous) A white immigrant, especially one moving to or from the United States.
- 1979, Tony Hendra, ‎Christopher Cerf, ‎Peter Elbling ·, The 80s: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade, 1980-1989, page 159:
  With only a head full of figures and a pocket full of indigestion tablets, a "whiteback" CPA emerges from the Rio Grande hoping for a better life in Mexico.
- 1997, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, page 23:
  The " whiteback" joke is from Charlie Hill's appearance on The Tonight Show and is republished in Kenneth Lincoln's book Indian Humor as follows: " the first English immigrants were illegal aliens —' Whitebacks, we call 'em.'
- 2011, Philip J. Romero, Your Macroeconomic Edge, page 69:
  Canadians are a friendly, open people. Therefore, their first instinct is to welcome the "whitebacks” from south of the border.

References

“whiteback”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.