behind closed doors

Idioms  

1. In secret, privately. For example, The nominating committee always meets behind closed doors, lest its deliberations become known prematurely. Also see behind the scenes.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

behind closed doors

What’s harder to justify is turning prosecutors into product designers, and a settlement negotiated behind closed doors into national technology policy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

That night, behind closed doors, Mom turned on her AI pal, allegedly saying to Dad, “Can you believe the cheek?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

As the legislative session nears its end, Newsom’s staff and lawmakers have been negotiating behind closed doors on a deal to limit utilities’ wildfire liabilities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

Despite sometimes appearing confident to others, Laura says she could feel very differently behind closed doors and sometimes needs to push herself to go out in public.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Alberto was assigned to reinforce the pen, which was then personally inspected by Father, followed by yet another talk with Travis behind closed doors.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly