backhauls
|back-hauls|
🇺🇸
/ˈbæk.hɔl/
🇬🇧
/ˈbæk.hɔːl/
(backhaul)
return transport / return link
Etymology
'backhaul' originates from English, a compound of 'back' + 'haul', where 'back' meant 'to the rear/return' and 'haul' meant 'to pull or transport'.
'backhaul' was formed in modern English (20th century), especially in American trucking and shipping contexts, from the combination of 'back' and 'haul' and later extended into telecommunications to describe return/transmission links.
Initially it meant 'to haul back (a load) on the return trip'; over time it broadened to refer both to return freight generally and to network transmission links carrying traffic back to a central point.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
return load carried on a vehicle, ship, or aircraft on the return journey; freight carried back rather than outbound cargo.
The company scheduled several backhauls to make use of empty trucks.
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Noun 2
in telecommunications, the links or transmission paths that carry traffic from distributed sites (e.g., cell sites, edge nodes) back to a central or core network.
Many mobile operators upgrade their backhauls to handle increasing data traffic.
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Last updated: 2025/12/26 09:44