stable door

British

noun

US and Canadian equivalent: Dutch door. a door with an upper and lower leaf that may be opened separately

"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

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.

I felt like I was kicking like a horse against the stable door: “Let me out!”

From New York Times • Dec. 1, 2021

Back then, full-length Nasa spacewear shredded record books to tickertape before the sport's governing body banned them and belatedly bolted the stable door.

From BBC • Aug. 3, 2021

Though some might argue that horse has already bolted, the US continues to guard the stable door.

From The Guardian • Jan. 6, 2016

Sir John suggested the government's action was like "shutting the stable door after the arms have bolted".

From BBC • Dec. 1, 2014

I stepped over the dog and eased the stable door back open.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023