Backshish, Backsheesh

[Per. bakhshish, from bakhshidan, to give.) A term used in Turkey, Egypt, India, and the East generally, to signify a present, or gratuity of money; a donation of alms; a gift to servants, . "I never yet saw man, But she would spell him backward ." - Shaks. Back'ward, a. Averse; reluctant; unwilling; dilatory; hesitating. "All things are ready if our minds be so: Perish the man whose mind is backward now!" Shaks. -Dull; sluggish; slow of apprehension; inapt. "It often falls out, that the backward learner makes amends another way." - South. -That which loiters behind others; late; behindhand in time; as, backward in growth. -Already past and gone. "And flies unconscious o'er each backward year." - Byron. Backwardne , n. Tendency to hold back; specific or habitual slowne ; shyne ; reluctance; hesitation; unwillingne ; repugnance. Back'water, n . Water kept back, as in a stream or reservoir, by some obstacle or obstruction, as a dam or lock. -Water flung back by the gyrations of a water-wheel. ( Aquatics .) An expre ion signifying water thrown back, when rowing, by the action of the oar. ( Law .) The water which is turned back , by a dam erected in a stream below, upon the wheel of a mill above, so as to retard its revolution. Every riparian proprietor is entitled to the benefit of the water in its natural state. Another such proprietor has no right to alter the level of the water, either where it enters or where it leaves his property. If he claims either to throw the water back above, or to diminish the quantity which is to descend below, he must, in order to maintain his claim, either prove an actual grant or license from the proprietors affected by his operation. or an uninterrupted enjoyment for twenty years. If he cannot maintain his claim in either of these ways, he is liable to an action on the case for damages in favor of the injured party, or to a suit in equity for an injunction to restrain his unlawful use of the water.. In Ma achusetts, and some other of the States, Acts have been pa ed giving to the owners of mills the right to flood the adjoining lands, if nece ary for the working of their mills, subject only te such damages as shall be ascertained by the particular proce prescribed, which proce is substituted for all other ju dicial remedies. These statutes, however, confer no au thority to flow back upon existing mills.