backdoor

[bak-dawr]

noun

1. 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.

2. a secret, furtive, or illicit manner or means.

   The business has a backdoor through which the board of directors can access slush fund money.

3. an indirect manner or means.

   Marriage counseling was a kind of backdoor into therapy, where I finally faced my dysfunctional relationship with my mother.

4. 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.

5. Slang: Usually Vulgar.,  anus.

adjective

1. secret; furtive; illicit.

   Special interests pushed through a backdoor contract before the bidding period had expired.

2. indirect.

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

3. 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.

4. Slang: Vulgar.,  anal.

Word History and Origins

Origin of backdoor¹

First recorded in 1520–30; back ¹ ( def. ) + door

Example Sentences

It started with an acrobatic, driving reverse layup and continued with another layup and two passes to teammates for backdoor layups.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Increasing the share of Treasury bills in federal financing is seen as “backdoor QE” by BofA strategists, similar to the Fed’s quantitative easing.

Read more on Barron's

Increasing the share of Treasury bills in federal financing is seen as “backdoor QE” by BofA strategists, similar to the Fed’s quantitative easing.

Read more on Barron's

There is a backdoor route to detecting changes in layoff trends, though.

Read more on MarketWatch

When it comes to backdoor AI plays, though, the gains haven’t covered the entire energy sector.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• classified 
• covert 
• furtive 
• hush-hush 
• mysterious 
• obscure 
• private 
• secluded 
• undercover 
• underground 
• undisclosed 
• unknown 
• unpublished