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back-alley

[bak-al-ee]
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adjective
  1. dirty, unprepossessing, sordid, or clandestine: back-alley morals; back-alley political schemes.
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Origin of back-alley

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for back alley

roadway, lane, boulevard, court, thoroughfare, track, route, trail, pavement, place, road, avenue, highway, drive, passage, drag, terrace, way, turf, artery

Idioms and Phrases with back alley

back alley

see under back street.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.