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.
“They were in the process of exiting the building, and were in the stairwell of the building — back stairs, specifically — when the significant explosion occurred.”
From Washington Post • Mar. 7, 2022
Deputies from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department — in black uniforms, with bulletproof vests and gold star badges — had climbed the back stairs with an eviction notice.
From New York Times • Dec. 18, 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
RIP: In the 1970s, David Letterman baby-sat Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore's children and Jay Leno slept on the back stairs of her Sunset Strip club, where Jim Carrey later tended the door.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2018
They walked up the back stairs to the kitchen.
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
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.
