back stairs
Americannoun
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stairs at the back of a house, as for use by servants.
-
a means of intrigue.
Etymology
Origin of back stairs
First recorded in 1620–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When hearing his voice, some attempt to reach through the shrubbery while others make a run for the back stairs in hopes of seeing him.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2025
Instead, they were directed through the kitchen and up the back stairs.
From Washington Post • Jul. 10, 2021
One day she “snuck down the back stairs into the testosterone zone,” she told The Democrat and Chronicle, and, only slightly intimidated, approached Mr. Felker, an editor there.
From New York Times • Aug. 25, 2020
Then I'd walk up the back stairs, give her a kiss and she'd take off. leaving me on the stage to start singing.
From BBC • Sep. 6, 2018
She could hear them as she walked down the back stairs, her hand sliding down the polished wooden banister.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
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.
