· a central cohesive source of support and stability; "faith is his anchor"; "the keystone of campaign reform was the ban on soft money"; "he is the linchpin of this firm"

Synonym(s): anchor, mainstay, keystone, linchpin, lynchpin

Hypernym(s): support

· fortitude and determination; "he didn't have the guts to try it"

Synonym(s): grit, guts, moxie, sand, gumption

Hypernym(s): fortitude

· the series of vertebrae forming the axis of the skeleton and protecting the spinal cord; "the fall broke his back"

Synonym(s): spinal_column, vertebral_column, spine, back, rachis

Hypernym(s): skeletal_structure

· the part of a book's cover that encloses the inner side of the book's pages and that faces outward when the book is shelved; "the title and author were printed on the spine of the book"

Synonym(s): spine

Hypernym(s): part, portion

· the part of a network that connects other networks together; "the backbone is the part of a communication network that carries the heaviest traffic"

Hypernym(s): connection, connexion, connector, connecter, connective