back door

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

Idioms and Phrases

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]

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]

Example Sentences

Campaigners argued that Mr Coskun's conviction was akin to blasphemy laws being reintroduced "by the back door, inadvertently, by our court service".

Read more on BBC

The other slipped out a back door, apparently never identified.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He is using every back door, loophole and extreme interpretation of the law to expand executive power and smother the system of checks and balances.

Read more on Salon

"They did not take us through the main border, they took us through the back door. They paid the police there and dropped us in Togo," he said.

Read more on BBC

As officers broke in through the back door, the man shot himself in the head.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• side door www.thesaurus.com