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• n  a central cohesive source of support and stability
• n  fortitude and determination
• n  the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord
• n  the part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved
• n  the part of a network that connects other networks together
  the backbone is the part of a communication network that carries the heaviest traffic

• It's also the backbone of ideals like democracy and human rights, as well as the protector of rather more tawdry material like reality TV and Internet porn.
• They form the backbone of the status quo in the governmental and societal structure.
• By then, the Internet will have been extended, by means of an interplanetary Internet backbone, to operate in outer space.

• anchor
• mainstay
• keystone
• linchpin
• lynchpin
• grit
• guts
• moxie
• sand
• gumption
• spinal column
• vertebral column
• spine
• back
• rachis

News & Articles

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• Superintendents weigh in on vetoed education bills
  Superintendents across Texas are searching for other options after legislation they felt was the backbone to transforming education was recently vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry.
  June 22, 2013 - Coppell Gazette
• James Comey right man for FBI: Our view
  In 2004, then-deputy attorney general showed the backbone needed for the job.
  June 21, 2013 - USA Today
• Supermajority muddies government openness
  The most egregious threat to the public interest may be the gutting of the Public Records Act (CPRA), the backbone of transparency in California since 1968.
  June 21, 2013 - U-T San Diego

Quotes

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• John Edwards in Guardian Unlimited
  With our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White House in November,said Edwards, ending his second campaign in a hurricane-ravaged section of New Orleans where he began it more than a year ago.
• Barack Obama in Bloomberg
  The auto industry is the backbone of American manufacturing and a critical part of our attempt to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,Obama said. "I would like to see the administration do everything it can to accelerate the retooling...
• Joe Biden in The Times-Picayune - NOLA.com
  With this task force, we have a single, highly visible group with one single goal: to raise the living standards of the people who are the backbone of this country,Biden said.