[{"Bold_text": "noun", "List Items": ["a wall, wire screen, or the like, serving to prevent a ball from going too far beyond the normal playing area.", "Baseball.the catcher.", "a person or thing that serves as a support, safeguard, or reinforcement:There were technicians on board as backstops to the automated controls."]}, {"Bold_text": "verb (used without object)", "List Items": ["to act as a backstop."]}, {"Bold_text": "verb (used with object)", "List Items": ["to act as a backstop to:The government agreed to backstop companies that invested in oil exploration."]}]