back street
a street apart from the main or business area of a town.
Origin of back street
1- Compare side street.
Other definitions for back-street (2 of 2)
taking place in secrecy and often illegally: back-street political maneuvering; back-street drug dealing.
Origin of back-street
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use back street in a sentence
She began watching American television and listening to American pop music, including the Backstreet Boys and Madonna.
How One Young Woman Escaped Childhood Abuse and a Forced Marriage | Moral Courage | October 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFirst the Backstreet Boys and New Kids, then the united megagroup, and now Nick & Knight.
'Nick & Knight': Nick Carter and Jordan Knight Are Your New Boy Band Power Couple | Kevin Fallon | September 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Backstreet Boys hosted a 20th anniversary cruise (seriously).
The Backstreet Boys were the boy band of choice for people who liked their boy bands a little weirder.
‘TRL’ Turns 15: The Daily Beast Staff Picks Their Favorite Moments | The Daily Beast | September 14, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTI have a confession to make: I co-founded and operated a Backstreet Boys fan site for more than three years.
‘TRL’ Turns 15: The Daily Beast Staff Picks Their Favorite Moments | The Daily Beast | September 14, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
British Dictionary definitions for backstreet
/ (ˈbækˌstriːt) /
a street in a town remote from the main roads
(modifier) denoting illicit activities regarded as likely to take place in such a street: a 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
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.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse