arrear

adv

1. (obsolete)Towards the rear, backwards.

   “She, (Ladie) having well before approoved / The feends to be too cruell and severe, / Observ'd th' appointed way, as her behooved, / Ne ever did her ey-sight turne arere [...].”

2. (obsolete)Behind time; overdue.

   “In case the annuity should be arrear for sixty days being lawfully demanded, then the trustee might enter upon the premises assigned [...].”

noun

1. Work to be done, obligation.

   “November 4, 1866, James David Forbes, letter to E. C. Batten I have a large arrear of letters to write.”

   “My own work, with its manifold arrears, took me all day to clear off.”

   “After World War II it took time to clear up the arrears of track maintenance on both lines and it was not until 1953 that the L.M.R. restored any two-hour schedules, the W.R. following suit a year later.”

2. Unpaid debt.

   “fall into arrears”

   “I know the debt is in arrears / The dog has not been fed in years / It's even worse than it appears, but / It's alright”

3. That which is in the rear or behind.