backstab

back +‎ stab

• IPA^(key): /ˈbækˌstæb/

backstab (third-person singular simple present backstabs, present participle backstabbing, simple past and past participle backstabbed)

1. (transitive) to attack someone (especially verbally) unfairly in a deceitful, underhand, or treacherous manner, especially when they're not present in the place or situation that it happens. (as if stabbing them in the back). See backbite.

• backstabber
• backstabby

backstab (plural backstabs)

1. An act of backstabbing.
   • 2016, Mauro Paulino, Forensic Psychology of Spousal Violence, London: Academic Press, →ISBN, page 160:

     After this conversation I was shocked; he asked me to leave the car so he would stay with her alone. Everything fell on me, I felt my body heavy and my heart beating very fast. It was such a backstab that it still hurts today.

• backtabs