(v. i.) To wound by clandestine detraction; to censure meanly or spitefully (an absent person); to slander or speak evil of (one absent).
(v. i.) To censure or revile the absent.
Example Sentences:
(1) May told backbench MPs at a summer event that their choice was her or Corbyn as prime minister as she urged them to stop the “backbiting”.
(2) Not only would the party’s Stalinist-like discipline compare favourably with the chaos and backbiting that would infect the coalition government, but the Shinners would play it all to their advantage in other ways.” With senior Fianna Fáil personnel baulking at the prospect of a formal coalition government with Fine Gael and remaining on the opposition benches, it appears so far that they will not be gifting any “grand coalition wet dream” to Sinn Féin in the near future.
(3) The disarray and anonymous backbiting in the Liberal party is infuriating Abbott loyalists and some in the National party .
(4) Alastair Campbell, Blair's former communications director, put it: "You know with absolute certainty that today's broadly loyal minister is tomorrow's bitter and backbiting backbencher."
(5) Two sources close to the situation described an atmosphere of sniping and backbiting as Trump loyalists position themselves for key jobs,” the network reported.
(6) West paid tribute to his Watch the Throne partner Jay-Z, saying the older rapper had looked out for West and protected him in the backbiting culture of hip-hop.
(7) Especially intriguing is the behind-the-scenes backbiting and jockeying for position among Simpson’s “dream team” of lawyers: Robert Shapiro (John Travolta), F Lee Bailey (Nathan Lane), Johnny Cochran (Courtney B Vance) and Alan Dershowitz (Evan Handler).
(8) Others said they were an inevitable product of the macho news culture in which he was immersed for almost 40 years - from the newsrooms of local papers to the deserts of his African adventures and the backbiting world of BBC internal politics.
(9) The Vatileaks scandals, which led to the jailing of the former pope's butler for passing stolen papers to Italian journalists, exposed a nest of backbiting and financial corruption.
(10) The haters and the backbiters have ready-made arguments they love to throw in your face.
(11) Amid the financial crisis swirling the chancelleries of Europe and the perennial backbiting about an uncompetitive economy suffering at the hands of cheaper labour in the east the economic premise for the EU is often lost: that over the past 25 years, the single market has made goods cheaper, labour cheaper, and trade more secure and more competitive.
(12) When it became apparent that Balls had no hope of winning a contest, mired as he was in the backbiting of the New Labour years, they wanted someone else to topple David Miliband.
(13) What selling needs is high visibility, unblinking belief and a capacity to persuade that starts with immediate colleagues – which is why the backbiting sets up such a damaging circle of negativity.
(14) The attorney general misled the cabinet – which, in any case, consisted of informal cups of coffee, rubber-stamping, and backbiting.
(15) They include surveillance reports, inter-agency information trading, disinformation and backbiting, as well as evidence of infiltration, theft and blackmail.
(16) Otherwise, John Ashdown,sends in the ECB job description , one of whose requirements isthe "implementation of a people agenda" - presumably a plan for how backbiting and gossip should work, an essential quality for running English cricket.
(17) Straight talk is a style of communication aimed at solving problems--without blaming, defending, bickering, or backbiting.
(18) Johnson's second term in city hall often resembles a sort of laissez-faire zoo, over-stocked with backbiters, cronies and cranks.
(19) In a profession that is often noted for its backbiting, Jack had an Olympian stature.
Earshot
Definition:
(n.) Reach of the ear; distance at which words may be heard.
Example Sentences:
(1) Throughout his life, Dad observed the rule that profanity – effing and blinding as he called it – should be confined to workplaces and other all-male venues where men gathered outside the earshot of women and children.
(2) I had not heard my mobile - although it was supposed to be always in earshot - and they wanted me back in the office.
(3) Tourists and other members of the public were said to have been within earshot.
(4) The first thing they’re going to say is: “It wasn’t the Brummie Boardwalk we were promised!” Look them in the eye and respond: “Oh, so you wanted it to plod through two seasons of stodgy plots bogged down by political machinations no one but a policy wonk could get excited about before really getting going in seasons 3 and 4?” Then wait for the applause anyone within earshot will give you.
(5) In the event the crowds continued in what amounted to a triumphant shuffle to within earshot of the Trump White House.
(6) They flew the Predator drone out of sight and beyond earshot of the targets at about 20,000 feet and a distance of about four nautical miles from the group on the ground.
(7) Through the Olive Trees, five years previously, had wrapped up with a proposal of marriage and a subsequent conversation conducted in the distance, out of earshot.
(8) "'Quiet' places were often the worst, because there was always someone likely to be passing within earshot."
(9) Connoisseurs of accountability may be intrigued to note that those who pay the piper are most able to call the tunes when they are within earshot, like voters to MPs.
(10) For instance, a married woman should avoid being alone with a male physician unless other people are in earshot and have access to the room.
(11) Dr Ray and I wait in silence, poised until she’s safely out of earshot, before we both break down with laughter.
(12) The first thing they did was hire some skips and fill them with what Tunstall – no children in earshot – cheerfully called the "tat and crap" covering every wall and filling every cupboard and storage space.
(13) In many ways, actually winning the game became secondary – although that shouldn't be mentioned within earshot of head coach Adrian Heath, the former Everton and Stoke City striker, who has devoted the last five years of his life to building an MLS-worthy team.
(14) If you want to get punched in the face, just wait until the next hot day and go next door to complain about a) their barbecue fumes stinking up your washing line and b) how the Rihanna on their outdoor stereo contains sexually commodifying messages that will corrupt any child within earshot.
(15) Inside the club museum, displayed on a wall around the corner from four replica European Cups and in earshot of a recording of the Kop chorusing You'll Never Walk Alone, is a marble plaque 18 inches square that reads: "In Memoriam: In memory of those who died at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels."
(16) Saturday Night Live is really disgusting for having him on.” Saturday Night Live had increased security measures, according to Montgomery, who said he remained hopeful that someone would manage to heckle the billionaire at least in earshot of microphones.
(17) This overt display of loyalty fractures when rare opportunities for rushed conversations out of earshot of the ubiquitous regime minders and informants arise.
(18) After Finland, it is the country with the worst food,” he said, adding: “One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad.” The comments were made in earshot of reporters, but a spokesman for Chirac said subsequent press reports did not reflect “the tone or the content” of the exchange.
(19) "The Jermain Defoe fridge magnet would spend a few years on the fridge, telling everyone on earshot that he deserved to be on the 48" HD TV, reckons Adrian Cooper.
(20) To provide data to guide physicians regarding the extent to which pediatric patients and their families should be involved in decision-making discussions by their health care teams, we compared the standard rounding procedure in a pediatric oncology unit (rounds conducted out of earshot) with bedside rounds in which management was discussed in front of patients and parents.