revolving door

American  

noun

1. an entrance door for excluding drafts from the interior of a building, usually consisting of four rigid leaves set in the form of a cross and rotating about a central, vertical pivot in the doorway.

2. Informal.

   1. a company, institution, or organization with a high turnover of personnel or members.

   2. a legal, medical, or other system or agency that discharges criminals, patients, etc., in the shortest possible time and without adequate attention or consideration.

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revolving door British  

noun

1. a door that rotates about a central vertical axis, esp one with four leaves arranged at right angles to each other, thereby excluding draughts

2. 1. informal a tendency to change personnel on a frequent basis

   2. ( as modifier )

      a revolving-door band

3. 1. informal the hiring of former government employees by private companies with which they had dealings when they worked for the government

   2. ( as modifier )

      revolving-door consultancies

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Other Word Forms

• revolving-door
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of revolving door

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Bieber went on to play much-memed videos of himself running into a revolving door and himself falling off a stage; that led to an unfortunate little digression about the paparazzi and their rapacious ways.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

Across the backends of the internet, cheeky characterizations of Norris-as-god still abound: Chuck Norris can believe it’s not butter, Chuck Norris doesn’t dodge bullets—they dodge him, Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.

From Slate • Mar. 20, 2026

It spares the host from managing a revolving door of goodbyes, avoids disrupting the natural energy of the event and doesn’t encourage others to leave simply because they see you heading for the door.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

It's clear the government needs to navigate these issues thoroughly to avoid the revolving door of offending, conviction and jail.

From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025

Then she pushed through the revolving door and to the row of phone booths that lined the lobby.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

Related Words

• bar
• door
• doorway
• exit
• fence
• port