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

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

“Gehry says his urge to reinvent order was born in the back room of his grandfather’s hardware store in downtown Toronto,” Leon Whiteson wrote in The Times in 1989.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025

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

Uncertainty around Najee Harris’ return still looms, creating a domino effect in the running back room.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 22, 2025

Magdalys glanced frantically around, then dashed to the back room and stopped short in the doorway.

From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older