backdoor

[ bak-dawr ]

/ ˈbækˈdɔr /

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See synonyms for backdoor on Thesaurus.com

noun Also back door .

a door at the rear of a house, building, etc.: Fans were waiting by the backdoor of the theater, hoping to catch a glimpse of the band.

a secret, furtive, or illicit manner or means: The business has a backdoor through which the board of directors can access slush fund money.

an indirect manner or means: Marriage counseling was a kind of backdoor into therapy, where I finally faced my dysfunctional relationship with my mother.

Computers. a secret access point or undocumented vulnerability in a software program, hardware component, or digital network, sometimes intentionally maintained as for remote developer access, but also sometimes created or exploited for unauthorized access by hackers: If half of all devices have disclosed backdoors, cybersecurity experts must assume that the number of devices affected by undisclosed or malicious backdoors is much higher.

Slang: Usually Vulgar. anus.

adjective Also back-door .

secret; furtive; illicit: Special interests pushed through a backdoor contract before the bidding period had expired.

indirect: The immigration reform bill included backdoor amnesty for employed undocumented residents.

Computers. relating to, using, or noting an indirect access point into a network, computer, or program: Hackers used a Trojan horse to establish backdoor access to the mainframe.

Slang: Vulgar. anal (def. 1).

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Origin of backdoor

First recorded in 1520–30; back¹ + door

Words nearby backdoor

backcourt, backcourtman, backcross, backdate, back dive, backdoor, backdoor play, backdown, backdraft, backdraught, backdrop

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use backdoor in a sentence

Pull up any video clip of Lee and you see a player cutting through the paint, head up, hands ready for a pass and a backdoor layup.
Lee for 3! Can This South Korean Break the NBA Barrier?|Daniel Malloy|February 5, 2021|Ozy
Once downloaded, the file would install a “backdoor” on the target’s machine.
Google outs suspected North Korean hackers|Robert Hackett|January 26, 2021|Fortune
The administration even tried to push the “Clipper Chip,” which would give them a backdoor into consumer devices.
In the Fight Against Extremism, Don't Demonize Surveillance-Busting Tools like Signal and Bitcoin|Alex Gladstein|January 26, 2021|Time
He said barely a word, just stared straight ahead at the backdoor entrance to the Senate Chamber.
Inside the assault on the Capitol: Evacuating the Senate|Paul Kane|January 7, 2021|Washington Post

It was early 2019 and I’d gotten word that managers were worried they’d opened a backdoor to a rather intense surveillance effort.
Lessons From the Year in Surveillance Tech Debacles|Jesse Marx|December 28, 2020|Voice of San Diego
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
It was “a reasonably featureful backdoor product sold very cheaply,” he says.
FBI’s Huge Hacker Bust Could Be Bogus|Quinn Norton|May 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He went out through the backdoor into the garden: stood to listen towards the next garden.
Ulysses|James Joyce
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
The last Royalist defender of safe measures had vanished through the backdoor.
Lectures on the French Revolution|John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton
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
I had left of drinking of water from the year of '89 in America, but there was a well close by the backdoor.
The Autobiography of a Cornish Smuggler|Harry Carter

British Dictionary definitions for backdoor

back door

noun

a door at the rear or side of a building

a means of entry to a job, position, etc, that is secret, underhand, or obtained through influence
(as modifier)a backdoor way of making firms pay more

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 backdoor

back door

An entry at the rear of a building, as in Deliveries are supposed to be made at the back door only. [First half of 1500s]

A clandestine, unauthorized, or illegal way of operating. For example, Salesmen are constantly trying to push their products by offering special gifts through the back door. This term alludes to the fact that the back door cannot be seen from the front. [Late 1500s]