backdoor

or back-door

[ bak-dawr, -dohr ]

/ ˈbækˈdɔr, -ˈdoʊr /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR backdoor ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

secret; furtive; illicit; indirect.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

backcomb, backcourt, backcourtman, backcross, backdate, backdoor, backdoor play, backdown, backdraft, backdraught, backdrop

Origin of backdoor

First recorded in 1605–15; adj. use of back door

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for backdoor

Yet, after months of backdoor negotiations there was Xi, stone-facedly shaking hands with a smirking Abe.
Beijing’s ‘Star Trek’ APEC Summit|Jake Adelstein|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In Kafr Kanna, because of the blocked highway exit, The Daily Beast was forced to use a backdoor entry to town.
A New Intifada? Israel’s Arab Citizen Uprising Spreads|Creede Newton|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That's happening thanks to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Survillence Act, the very "backdoor" discussed here.
It’s Time to Shut the NSA’s Backdoor Used to Spy on Americans|Geoffrey R. Stone|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The defenders of backdoor searches argue that the same rule should apply in the section 702 situation.
It’s Time to Shut the NSA’s Backdoor Used to Spy on Americans|Geoffrey R. Stone|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST

That is a typically Russian feature, by banning, they will just awake our interest to find a backdoor.
The Kremlin's Rock 'n Roll Revisionism|Anna Nemtsova|April 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The last Royalist defender of safe measures had vanished through the backdoor.
Lectures on the French Revolution|John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton
Probably it had been a servants' entrance, a backdoor, or opening into what are called "the offices" in Scotland.
Great Ghost Stories|Various
He went out by the backdoor into the garden, and saw how the sky was clouding up from the south-west.
Littlebourne Lock|F. Bayford Harrison
When within a short distance of the old house a backdoor suddenly opened and fule-Tammy came out carrying a peat-keschie.
Viking Boys|Jessie Margaret Edmondston Saxby
Early next morning, he tied up his clothes in his handkerchief, crept downstairs noiselessly and let himself out by the backdoor.
Babylon, Volume 1 (of 3)|Grant Allen

Word Origin and History for backdoor

backdoor

adj.

also back-door, "devious, shady, illegal," 1640s. The notion is of business done out of public view. The noun back door in the literal sense is from 1520s, from back (adj.) + door. The association with sodomy is at least from 19c.; cf. also back-door man "a married woman's lover," black slang, early 20c.