Definition of "backdate" [back•date]

• To mark or supply with a date that is earlier than the actual date: backdate a check. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The backdating companies broke this rule: they reported how many options they were issuing, but conveniently omitted the fact that they had been backdated … The bigger reason for choosing to backdate is to get around some bothersome accounting regulations."
• "By asking to "backdate" gains more than a year in the past, the lawsuit says, Mr. Picower and others at his firm "knew or should have known that they were participating in fraudulent activity.""
• "By asking to "backdate" gains more than a year in the past, the lawsuit said, Mr. Picower and others at his firm "knew or should have known that they were participating in fraudulent activity.""