doorway
Americannoun
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the passage or opening into a building, room, etc., commonly closed and opened by a door; portal.
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a means of access.
a doorway to success.
noun
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an opening into a building, room, etc, esp one that has a door
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a means of access or escape
a doorway to freedom
Etymology
Origin of doorway
Explanation
A doorway is the place through which you enter a room. Some doorways have actual doors, while others are merely arched openings into a room or building. If you stand in your doorway watching your neighbor approach on his bike, you've probably got the front door open and you're standing in its space. The doorway to your living room, on the other hand, might be a simple arch or wide entryway. The word dates from about 1799, from door and way, which here means "space" — it's the space in a wall where a door sits.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The franchise is in danger of permanently opening the Doorway to Dullness if it nullifies the law of gravity so its characters’ deaths have no weight, as “What If ...?” shows.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 6, 2021
Her 1938 photograph, “Death in the Doorway, ” of a church entrance in the San Joaquin Valley reveals a blanketed corpse that someone, probably unable to afford a burial, has deposited.
From New York Times • Feb. 13, 2020
On a recent Sunday, the Doorway Project tested their idea at the parking lot of the University Heights Community Center.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 11, 2017
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter handed Dylan the award after a night of performances of his songs, including "Knocking on Heaven's Door" and "Standing in the Doorway", by a cast of superstars.
From Reuters • Feb. 7, 2015
Doorway, doorframe, dolphins dancing on the walls of my sister’s room as I stand in her doorway.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
