{
  "id": "back.spatial",
  "term": "back",
  "sense": "spatial",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 13,
  "arena": "back",
  "domain": "spatial",
  "style": null,
  "definition": "a side of a thing that is part of its boundary",
  "folk_gloss": null,
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "side.surface",
      "part.relation",
      "boundary.limit",
      "relevance.core"
    ],
    "interaction": "the side of a thing that is part of its boundary is a different side when relevance shifts its status",
    "novel_properties": [
      "positioned opposition",
      "contextual prominence",
      "asymmetrical salience"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "The back of the 1986 Voyager 2 spacecraft housed thrusters and power systems, shielded during planetary flybys.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    },
    {
      "text": "Willow leaves in the Amazon rainforest orient their backs downward to reduce water absorption during storms.",
      "domain": "biology"
    },
    {
      "text": "The back of the Berlin Wall, facing East German guards, remained inaccessible to Western observers for 28 years.",
      "domain": "institutions"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "id": "side.surface",
      "note": "is-a",
      "type": "is-a"
    }
  ],
  "used_by": [
    "deal.transaction",
    "feedback.communication",
    "return.movement",
    "tipping-point.irreversible"
  ],
  "forms": [
    "back",
    "backed",
    "backing",
    "backs"
  ],
  "closed": true,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "openrouter:openai/gpt-oss-120b",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.6,
    "reconciled": {
      "by": "openrouter:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
      "date": "2026-07-31",
      "changed": "components",
      "note": "Added relevance.core to account for the role of contextual parameters in distinguishing the back as a specific side."
    }
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-back.spatial"
}