a system of means and activities whereby a social institution functions; "the complex machinery of negotiation"; "the machinery of command labored and brought forth an order"
in or to or toward the rear; "he followed behind"; "seen from behind, the house is more imposing than it is from the front"; "the final runners were far behind"
remaining in a place or condition that has been left or departed from; "when he died he left much unfinished work behind"; "left a large family behind"; "the children left their books behind"; "he took off with a squeal of tires and left the other cars far behind"
in debt; "he fell behind with his mortgage payments"; "a month behind in the rent"; "a company that has been run behindhand for years"; "in arrears with their utility bills"
in or into an inferior position; "fell behind in his studies"; "their business was lagging behind in the competition for customers"
of timepieces; "the clock is almost an hour slow"; "my watch is running behind"
a club-shaped hand tool for grinding and mixing substances in a mortar
a heavy tool of stone or iron (usually with a flat base and a handle) that is used to grind and mix material (as grain or drugs or pigments) against a slab of stone
grind, mash or pulverize in a mortar; "pestle the garlic"