back door
163
1.0
- noun
- /bæk dɔr/
:
puerta trasera
- We entered the building through the back door to avoid the crowd at the front entrance.
- open the back door
And for proof of that, we open the back door and let the wild rumpus start.
- And for proof of that, we open the back door and let the wild rumpus start.
- They, they never did forensics on any handles of back doors.
- No sign except for one next to the front door that said hippies use back door and a formal plaque on the gate.
- So we go down, go and check the back door and make sure the back door is locked in case he comes round there.
- We were we spent the night at my dad's house and all the kids slept in the sunroom, which is like at the back door.
- And if you go through the dressing room, it leads to a set of stairs, back stairs that go down to the back door.
- And then I walked out the back door and I collapsed to the ground and screamed over and over again.
- Top of the building, top of the building, balcony, back door, all the surrounding area.
Examples
-
Mr. Kimura was coming through the back door, holding a bundle in his arms.
Fiction book (1991) -
A gold panel of light from the open back door falls across the grass.
Academic text (1991) -
We went in the back door of this bar over near where the old bus station used to be near Park Square.
-
I let myself in the back door.
-
Sometimes they leave stuff at the back door.
-
We're trying to get in through the back door.
-
Do you have a back door to your home that you rarely use?
Academic text (2009) -
The driver opened the back door of the ambulance and helped Red lower a ramp.
Fiction book (1990) -
There's a policeman at the back door.
-
And I remember as we approached the back door, thinking, oh, when he opens this door, the alarm's going to go off.
Synonyms
10
1.8
A door at the back of a building that people use to enter
4
1.0
A door at the back of a building that people use as a second entrance
Antonyms
How Private
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituent meanings 'back' (rear) + 'door' (entrance) directly suggest a rear or less-visible entrance, and this physical image readily extends to the idea of an unofficial or secret route, so learners who know the words can often infer the basic sense. However, the use as an abstract method for bypassing rules is a metaphorical extension rather than a strictly compositional meaning, so it may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without some exposure.
Etymology
Back door is the real door at the rear of a building that people use to come and go quietly or privately. That's why it means a 'secondary or private entrance'.