rearward

noun

1. The part that comes last or is situated in the rear; conclusion, wind-up.

   “Do not liue Hero, do not ope thine eies: / For did I thinke thou vvouldſt not quickly die / Thought I thy ſpirites vvere ſtronger than thy ſhames / My ſelfe would on the rerevvard of reproches / Strike at thy life.”

   “For, though it were a knowen corruption, and therefore ſhould haue beene auoyded; yet [Robert] Bellarmine in muſtering vp the Fathers authorities, for proofe of the reading, ipſa (the beſt ground of their Mariolatrie) brings in [John] Chryſoſtom in the rereward.”

   “Ever he gazed earnestly on the main battle of the Romans, and what they were doing, and presently it became clear to him that they would outgo him and come to the ford, and then he wotted well that they would set on him just when their light-armed were on his flank and his rearward, and then it would go hard but they would break their array and all would be lost: […]”

2. The last troop; the rear of an army; a rear guard.

   “Come in the rearward of a conquered woe”

adj

1. Toward the back or rear of something.

   “The rearward seats of the bus were unpleasantly close to the toilet facilities.”

   “Unlike the earlier standard designs, in which the whole of the footplate was on the engine, fall plates are re-introduced and these are hinged from the front of the tender to rest on the rearward extension of the cab floor.”

adv

1. Toward the back or rear of something.

   “The ensuing struggle was bitter but brief, as for a third time the Alabamians stumbled rearward through the cedars. If Manigault were to take the guns, he would need help.”