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backwater

noun [C]
 
 
/ˈbæk.wɔː.tər/ US  /-wɑː.t̬ɚ/

Definition

a part of a river where the water does not flow: We tied the boat up in a quiet backwater overnight.Parts of watercourses disapproving a place that is not influenced by new ideas or events that happen in other places and does not change: He grew up in a rural backwater. → Compare jerkwaterTowns, cities and villages (general)
(Definition of backwater noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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