doorway
Americannoun
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doorways
plural
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the passage or opening into a building, room, etc., commonly closed and opened by a door; portal.
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a means of access.
a doorway to success.
noun
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an opening into a building, room, etc, esp one that has a door
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a means of access or escape
a doorway to freedom
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of doorway
Explanation
A doorway is the place through which you enter a room. Some doorways have actual doors, while others are merely arched openings into a room or building. If you stand in your doorway watching your neighbor approach on his bike, you've probably got the front door open and you're standing in its space. The doorway to your living room, on the other hand, might be a simple arch or wide entryway. The word dates from about 1799, from door and way, which here means "space" — it's the space in a wall where a door sits.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Many have an emotional interest in building a life around the home itself, measuring their kids’ height on the doorway, watching their kids grow up in the house and then growing old in it.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
But with sneakers strewn in the doorway and a cookbook opened to a specific recipe, the faux house felt lived in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
In Cave 103, the two figures sit on opposite sides of the doorway.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
I’ve waxed poetic about pre-chopped onions as a doorway to weeknight cooking.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
He stops in the doorway, concern written over every inch of his face.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Andy Burnham's "national drive" to stop people living in tents or shop doorways will include offering them "a route off the streets by Christmas".
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Fewer than 4% of all U.S. homes offer single-floor living, no-step entries, and wide hallways and doorways — the key features of accessible housing — according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
From MarketWatch ● May 9, 2026
The room was overflowing—people along walls, in doorways.
From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2026
I chuckled every time Corden and Gunning showed up for more abuse, including from Soderbergh, who shoots them like a wall of stupidity, blocking doorways as they stand side-by-side like Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
They run up the narrow street, peering down side alleys, stopping to check doorways, gazing again and again at that tower of black smoke.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
