back door

British  

noun

1. a door at the rear or side of a building

2. 1. a means of entry to a job, position, etc, that is secret, underhand, or obtained through influence

   2. ( as modifier )

      a backdoor way of making firms pay more

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back door Idioms  

1. An entry at the rear of a building, as in Deliveries are supposed to be made at the back door only . [First half of 1500s]

2. A clandestine, unauthorized, or illegal way of operating. For example, Salesmen are constantly trying to push their products by offering special gifts through the back door . This term alludes to the fact that the back door cannot be seen from the front. [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

back door

Her daughter was able to exit a school building, physically unharmed, through a back door, she said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026

Rodriguez said the proposal risks creating “a permanent back door into the privacy of our own homes, ripe for exploitation.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026

Fundamental weighting de-emphasizes high market values in favor of high accounting values, a back door to value and profitability tilts.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

“We think of this as having a bouncer at the front door looking at what’s coming in, and then another bouncer at the back door being like, ‘Well, what’s going out?’”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

He walked across the small yard, past Rostam, either unaware or incurious of me hiding behind him, and opened the back door.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

Related Words

• side door