backlog (baklog)

A large log placed at the back of an open wood-fire to sustain combustion and concentrate the heat. Few people know how to make a wood fire, but everybody thinks he or she does. You want, first, a large back log , which does not rest on the andirons. C. D. Warner, Backlog Studies, p. 6. back look (bak'lük), n. Retrospective view: as, to take a back look . [Rare.] back-lye (bak'li), n . [ back + lye for liel .] In coal - mining , a siding or shunt on an underground railway. Gresley. [North. Eng.]