back street

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noun

a street apart from the main or business area of a town.

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Compare side street.

Origin of back street

First recorded in 1630–40

Words nearby back street

backstitch, backstop, backstory, back straight, backstrap loom, back street, backstretch, backstroke, backstroker, backswept, backswimmer

Other definitions for back street (2 of 2)

back-street

[ bak-street ]

/ ˈbækˌstrit /

adjective

taking place in secrecy and often illegally: back-street political maneuvering; back-street drug dealing.

Origin of back-street

First recorded in 1895–1900

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use back street in a sentence

Think back to the Bush-Kerry race of 2004, the Thrilla in Vanilla.
Jeb Bush’s Unseen Anti-Gay Marriage Emails|Jackie Kucinich|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Back in New York, the slow pace and inward focus of her yoga practice was less fulfilling.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Music is a huge part of the tone of Black Dynamite overall—going back to the original 2009 movie on which the series is based.
‘Black Dynamite’ Presents Police Brutality: The Musical|Stereo Williams|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The al Qaeda-linked gunmen shot back, but only managed to injure one officer before they were taken out.
France Kills Charlie Hebdo Murderers|Nico Hines|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

So, Islamized teaching sends girls back home for marriage and housework, and remains exclusively for boys.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I waited three months more, in great impatience, then sent him back to the same post, to see if there might be a reply.
The Boarded-Up House|Augusta Huiell Seaman
Some weeks after, the creditor chanced to be in Boston, and in walking up Tremont street, encountered his enterprising friend.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
Ages back—let musty geologists tell us how long ago—'twas a lake, larger than the Lake of Geneva.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
The boys were tumbling about, clinging to his legs, imploring that numerous things be brought back to them.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
With a suffocating gasp, she fell back into the chair on which she sat, and covered her face with her hands.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter

British Dictionary definitions for back street

backstreet

/ (ˈbækˌstriːt) /

noun

a street in a town remote from the main roads

(modifier) denoting illicit activities regarded as likely to take place in such a streeta backstreet abortion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with back street

back street

Also, back alley. A less prominent or inferior location; also, a scene of clandestine or illegal dealings. For example, The highway department is very slow to clear snow from the back streets, or Before they were made legal, abortions were often performed in back alleys. Although back street literally means “one away from the main or business area of a town or city,” this term, from the early 1600s, became associated with underhanded dealings, and back alley, from the mid-1800s, is always used in this sense.

back street

Origin of back street

Words nearby back street

Other definitions for back street (2 of 2)

Origin of back-street

Words related to back street

How to use back street in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for back street

Other Idioms and Phrases with back street