Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun plural Wild and dense brush; jungle.
  • noun plural Rural country; the backwoods.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun a remote and undeveloped area; -- sometimes used deprecatingly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A very rural location or town.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a remote and undeveloped area

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Tagalog bundok, mountain.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1910s, Tagalog bundok ("mountain"), adopted by American troops, reinforced or re-adopted during World War II.

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Examples

  • 3. Abbreviated form of the word boondocks: the most remote part or parts of our country.

    Surviving Australia Sorrel Wilby 2001

  • 3. Abbreviated form of the word boondocks: the most remote part or parts of our country.

    Surviving Australia Sorrel Wilby 2001

  • 3. Abbreviated form of the word boondocks: the most remote part or parts of our country.

    Surviving Australia Sorrel Wilby 2001

  • The ten-minute ride to the boondocks was a small mistake on their part.

    Too Many Spies Spoil The Case Archer, Miles 2002

  • Whooley and his friends would take their cars racing in the boondocks, which is pretty much everywhere in Wyoming, according to Whooley.

    Lahontan Valley News - Top Stories Kim Lamb LVN Staff Writer 2010

  • We used to go to bar called the boondocks and drink, dance and shoot pool.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • We used to go to bar called the boondocks and drink, dance and shoot pool.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • We let her have her prom with her girlfriend and her tuxedo and we went to party it up in the "boondocks" not because we wanted her rights violated, but so we could salvage what has turned into a total fiasco.

    The Bilerico Project Alex Blaze 2010

  • When they became tired of the rat race of city life, they relocated to the "boondocks" to raise their children.

    News Review - Top Stories 2010

  • The Catch: In an effort to obliterate the term "boondocks," the government finally provides rural areas with access to faster Internet (and possibly America Online).

    Esquire.com Article Feed 2009

Comments

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  • "Boondocks" is a word derived from the Filipino word BUNDOK direct meaning is Mountain. The word gained popular use by American Military men during the Filipino American War in 1898-1900, when they would ask their Filipino guides where the filipino forces where and the answer invariably was "nasa bundok" (in the mountains).

    April 1, 2009

  • Specifically from Tagalog, one of the languages spoken in the Philippines.

    June 8, 2009