1. backreference - Noun
2. backreference - Verb
backreference (plural backreferences)
(regular expressions) An item in a regular expression equivalent to the text matched by an earlier pattern in the expression.
backreference (third-person singular simple present backreferences, present participle backreferencing, simple past and past participle backreferenced)
(regular expressions, transitive) To access (the text matched by an earlier pattern in a regular expression).