The back-rank mate is one of the commonest mates in practical play. A king sheltering behind an untouched row of his own pawns ends up trapped: a heavy piece checks along the back rank, and the king cannot step forward because his own pawns are in the way.
Here the black king on g8 is shut in by the pawns on f7, g7 and h7. The white rook comes to a8 and mates along the eighth rank: the king can neither step to the seventh (his own pawns block it) nor reach the distant rook.
The defence against the back-rank mate is to make an escape square in advance: push one of the shielding pawns (...h6 or ...g6, for instance) so the king has somewhere to go. This mate is a frequent cause of sudden losses in level positions.
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