What is the shortest word you can find with the most letters of the alphabet in order (Not necessarily together)

eg.
aback ABC
defrosting DEFG

What about in reverse?

eg.
feedback FEDC

Try to maximise the number of letters while minimizing the word length

(In reply to Solution by Penny)

Two of these words are unusual.

"Poundmeal" is found in early English literature (e.g. Piers Ploughman)

"Typonymal" exists in my crossword puzzle word list, but I can't find much information about it. I think it is a zoological classification, however, because whenever my young nephew goes to the zoo, he's always asking "Hey, what typonymal is that ?"

Posted by Penny on 2005-01-20 16:23:45