back-alley

[ bak-al-ee ]

/ ˈbækˈæl i /

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adjective

dirty, unprepossessing, sordid, or clandestine: back-alley morals; back-alley political schemes.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of back-alley

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65

I never want to return to the days of gruesome back-alley abortions.
Abortion Rights Community Has Become the NRA of the Left|Kirsten Powers|May 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And it happened with this modern-day back alley butcher in Philadelphia.
The Twisted Abortion Doctor|Michelle Goldberg|January 20, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Just around the corner from stores like Chanel, Valentino, and Hermès—not exactly a back alley.
My Illegal, Flammable, Fabulous Hair Treatment|Laura Bennett|July 10, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The execrable back alley was conducted on the pig-sty basis.
Revisiting the Earth|James Langdon Hill

Let not the atheist say that there is a child in the back alley dying.
The Golden Censer|John McGovern
How slatternly the old back alley fence would look now that the parking system is adopted by neighbors.
Revisiting the Earth|James Langdon Hill
Then, bleeding from his shoulder and with blood upon his beard, he made afresh for the passage leading to the back alley.
The Scapegoat|Hall Caine
A man may live in the back alley of life or on the boulevard, according to the dictates of the spirit.
The Vitalized School|Francis B. Pearson

back alley

see under back street.