back-alley

[ bak-al-ee ]

/ ˈbækˈæl i /

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adjective

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

Think back to the Bush-Kerry race of 2004, the Thrilla in Vanilla.
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Back in New York, the slow pace and inward focus of her yoga practice was less fulfilling.
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The al Qaeda-linked gunmen shot back, but only managed to injure one officer before they were taken out.
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So, Islamized teaching sends girls back home for marriage and housework, and remains exclusively for boys.
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I waited three months more, in great impatience, then sent him back to the same post, to see if there might be a reply.
The Boarded-Up House|Augusta Huiell Seaman
Ages back—let musty geologists tell us how long ago—'twas a lake, larger than the Lake of Geneva.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
The boys were tumbling about, clinging to his legs, imploring that numerous things be brought back to them.
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With a suffocating gasp, she fell back into the chair on which she sat, and covered her face with her hands.
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She was holding the back of her chair with one hand; her loose sleeve had slipped almost to the shoulder of her uplifted arm.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin

back alley

see under back street.