back alley
16
2.7
- noun
- /bæk ˈæli/
- US
:
callejón
- The delivery truck squeezed through the narrow back alley to reach the restaurant's kitchen.
- back-alley abortions
- dark back alley
- narrow back alley
You're like a stray dog in the back alley who's just pleading for food.
- You're like a stray dog in the back alley who's just pleading for food.
- And it would be this back alley where it would just be dark and rats running everywhere.
- Yeah, so you can see there that the water comes out right below, like the top step there, kind of that top platform, which is where they access maybe from the back alley.
- And it was like right out of a movie scene, like we're on this dimly lit cobblestone, like almost back alley type spot.
Examples
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Go down the back alley.
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I lived near the neighborhood and spent days checking trash cans and back alleys.
Blog text (10) -
I think we can hit all these places today as long as our back alley contact is on time.
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I can get us in through the back alley.
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I was on my way to the store through a back alley.
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- Did you park the Prius in the back alley?
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Shining her flashlight on the far wall, she saw that one of the high windows leading to the back alley was open.
Fiction book (1999) -
Down a back alley.
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Side streets and back alleys are so different you wouldn't even know you're in the U.S.
Fiction book (1999) -
Ambling down its old streets and back alleys is like walking down the city's memory lane.
Blog text (10)
Synonyms
349
1.0
A narrow street between buildings, often behind shops or houses
37
2.7
A narrow passage between buildings, often behind them
9
2.6
A small quiet street away from the main roads in a town or city
5
3.3
A narrow street behind main streets that few people use
How Narrow
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'back' (at the rear) + 'alley' (a narrow passage); together they denote an alley at the rear of buildings. This is a common, cross-linguistically transparent locative combination that a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand.
Etymology
The noun back alley comes from a simple picture: back means behind and alley is a narrow street. Because these lanes are behind buildings, back alley now suggests a 'shortcut' or a quiet, 'hidden place' often used for deliveries or to avoid crowds.