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Booster vs Backup - What's the difference?

booster | backup |

As nouns the difference between booster and backup

is that booster is something that boosts while backup is a reserve or substitute.

As an adjective backup is

standby, reserve or extra.

booster

English

Noun

(wikipedia booster) (en noun)
  • Something that boosts.
  • The first stage of a multistage rocket that provides the thrust for liftoff and the initial flight
  • A motor-generator set used for voltage regulation in direct current electrical power circuits.
  • Someone who is a fan or supporter of something.
  • * 2012 , The Economist, Lexington: A fiscal hawk, grounded
    • Nor is his district quite the Democratic bastion boosters describe: voters there narrowly backed Barack Obama in 2008, but voted for Mr Bush by a hefty margin in 2004.
  • Someone who promotes a town or business
  • A member of a booster club.
  • A booster dose.
    • When did you get your last tetanus booster ?
  • (linguistics) A term that serves to amplify or strengthen an utterance, such as "really".

    • Anagrams

    *

    backup

    English

    Alternative forms

    * back-up

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A reserve or substitute.
    • If the goalkeeper is injured, we have a backup .
  • (computing) A copy of a file or record, stored separately from the original, that can be used to recover the original if it is destroyed or damaged.
    • After the power failure, we had to restore the database from backup .
  • An accumulation of material that halts the flow or movement of something.
    • The blockage caused a backup in the plumbing.
  • (law enforcement) reinforcements
    • He's got a gun - you better send for backup .

    Synonyms

    * (reserve ): reserve, stand-in, spare, substitute * (computing: copy of a file or record ): * (accumulation of material that halts flow ): block, blockage

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Standby, reserve or extra.
    • I am only a backup player.
  • (computing) That is intended as a backup.
    • Make a backup copy of that file.

    Synonyms

    * (reserve) extra, reserve, spare, standby

    Usage notes

    Back-up'' is an alternative spelling of backup. Both spellings are used as either a noun or an adjective. The verb ''back up is always spelled as two words and never with a hyphen.