back room

American  

Or backroom

noun

1. a room located in the rear, especially one used only by certain people.

2. a place where powerful or influential persons, especially politicians, meet to plan secretly or from which they exercise control in an indirect manner.

   The candidate for mayor was chosen in the precincts' back rooms.

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back room British  

noun

1. 1. a place where research or planning is done, esp secret research in wartime

   2. ( as modifier )

      back-room boys

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Etymology

Origin of back room

First recorded in 1585–95

Example Sentences

"It means fewer orders," says one trader over tea in a back room office.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

Gavin Vaughan, Scotland's chief analyst and a long-time part of Townsend's back room, is reportedly joining the club, external as head of recruitment at the end of the Six Nations.

From BBC • Feb. 13, 2026

MoonPay, a crypto payments company, held a private dinner in the back room of Torrisi, a chic SoHo restaurant, to celebrate a partnership with Dorsia, an app for restaurant reservations.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

In the back room of a children’s play space in Eagle Rock, Andrew Thomas asks a familiar parenting question: How do you stay calm when your kid is testing every last nerve?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2025

So Nina led her into a small back room.

From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu