An Americanism dating back to 1860–65
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In a damp back alley, Jingjing joined job-seekers milling about leisurely, haggling for higher wages while garment bosses perched on scooters brandished hiring signs, desperate for day labourers.
From Barron's • May 6, 2026
“We can play a defensive game if we have to. And I think we can play a back alley game, too.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2025
Shawn Younker, incarcerated in Pennsylvania, writes, “We might as well be rummaging the dusty old leftovers in some thrift store or back alley dumpster.”
From Slate • Sep. 17, 2024
Finally, an acquaintance refers her to a Paris abortionist off a literal back alley, where she has the procedure at 12 weeks.
From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2022
Scene 2: In a back alley, barrels are being rolled out of a truck toward an aproned, beckoning barkeeper and through the back door of a brick building.
From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson
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.
