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• n  a body of water that was created by a flood or tide or by being held or forced back by a dam
  the bayous and backwaters are breeding grounds for mosquitos
• n  a place or condition in which no development or progress is occurring
  the country is an economic backwater

• For the past seven years, the panel has been a quiet congressional backwater, politely posing few problems for Clinton or his predecessor, George Bush.
• Any university that doesn't have at least one string theorist on the payroll is considered a scientific backwater.
• In fact, Wang believes it may not even be too late for the baiji: there may be a handful of baiji dolphins left in some isolated backwater of the Yangtze.

News & Articles

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• Nancy Kaffer: Writer's column on DIA as full of arrogance as it is full of crazy
  The Bloomberg contributer quickly went from suggesting that should the DIA be forced to sell art, it might not be the worst thing ever, to seemingly articulating a theory that the DIA shouldn't get to have any important artwork because Detroit is a provincial backwater.
  June 7, 2013 - Detroit Free Press
• Nancy Kaffer: Column on DIA as full of arrogance as it is full of crazy
  The Bloomberg contributor quickly went from suggesting that should the DIA be forced to sell art, it might not be the worst thing ever, to seemingly articulating a theory that the DIA shouldn't get to have any important artwork because Detroit is a provincial backwater.
  June 7, 2013 - Detroit Free Press

Quotes

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• Tony Blair in Scenta.co.uk
  Over 10 years,wrote Tony Blair yesterday, "I have watched energy policy go from a relatively quiet backwater to something taking on a strategic importance that could be as crucial to our country's future as defence."
• Helen Coonan in CRN Australia
  Labor will turn regional and rural Australia into a telecommunications backwater with no targeted government assistance for future telecommunications upgrades,said Senator Coonan.
• Henry Kissinger in USA Today
  So we've got to find some formula that holds the thing together a year or two, after which after a year, Mr. President, Vietnam will be a backwater,Kissinger said. "If we settle it, say, this October, by January '74 no one will give a...