doorstep

[dawr-step, dohr-]

See more synonyms for doorstep on Thesaurus.com

noun

a step or one of a series of steps leading from the ground to a door.
British Slang. a thick slice of bread.

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Origin of doorstep

First recorded in 1800–10; door + step

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

stair, brink, verge, run, tread, rest, gradation, rung, notch, round, doorstep, origin, entrance, door, point, outset, start, edge, vestibule, inception

Examples from the Web for doorstep

Contemporary Examples

Oprah, when she came, found a legion of her fans on its doorstep.
The Fiery Death of Sotto Sotto, Toronto’s Celebrity Hotspot
Shinan Govani
December 30, 2014
Despite doing nothing to get the man of her dreams, he arrives at her doorstep as if she Ubered the heartthrob.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space’: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Tay-Tay Scorned
Sujay Kumar
November 10, 2014
One morning a few years ago, the editor left his apartment to find an ax stuck into a log on his doorstep.
The Kremlin Is Killing Echo of Moscow, Russia’s Last Independent Radio Station
Anna Nemtsova
November 7, 2014
When I reminded him that that could mean hundreds of offspring showing up on his doorstep, he didn't flinch.
Today’s Sperm Donor Isn’t a Broke 20-Something
Stephanie Fairyington
September 20, 2014
From their perspective, as long as ISIS sits on Baghdad's doorstep, political change can wait.
How Iran and America Can Beat ISIS Together
Ben Van Heuvelen
June 21, 2014

Historical Examples

When he reached the doorstep, Sidney was demurely seated and quite alone.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Sidney sat down on the doorstep, and the boy dropped at her feet.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
His trusty sword, in its steel scabbard, strikes clanking on the doorstep.
Main Street
Nathaniel Hawthorne
They wrangled on the doorstep until it was late, but she would not yield to him.
The Foolish Lovers
St. John G. Ervine
Josie was lingering on the doorstep in an agony of untrained coquetry.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance

British Dictionary definitions for doorstep

doorstep

noun

a step in front of a door
on one's doorstep very close or accessible
informal a thick slice of bread

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verb -steps, -stepping or -stepped (tr)

to canvass (a district) or interview (a member of the public) by or in the course of door-to-door visiting
(of a journalist) to wait outside the house of (someone) to obtain an interview, photograph, etc when he or she emerges

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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

Word Origin and History for doorstep

n.

1810, from door + step (n.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with doorstep

doorstep

see under at one's door (on one's doorstep).

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.