back door

British  

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

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back door Idioms  

1. 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]

2. 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]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

back door

Fundamental weighting de-emphasizes high market values in favor of high accounting values, a back door to value and profitability tilts.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

“We think of this as having a bouncer at the front door looking at what’s coming in, and then another bouncer at the back door being like, ‘Well, what’s going out?’”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

"There's still a lot of smoke in the street - it was quite scary - I was in two minds to leave by my back door."

From BBC ● May 31, 2026

Gil hustled to the back of the store, opened the back door to the encampment, and called out to the entire population.

From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026

A man got out of a shiny black sedan and opened the back door for him.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

Related Words

• side door