stairwell

Or stair well

[stair-wel]

noun

1. the vertical shaft or opening containing a stairway.

stairwell

/ ˈstɛəˌwɛl /

noun

1. a vertical shaft or opening that contains a staircase

Word History and Origins

Origin of stairwell¹

First recorded in 1915–20; stair + well ²

Example Sentences

A few months later, Xenarios, already working as a social worker, arrived to interview a resident at a Harlem apartment building and was grabbed at knifepoint by a man in the stairwell.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The renovations will also afford guests a chance to access “the vault,” the second-floor art storage space that has thus far only been visible through stairwell windows.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A court later heard he murdered her there and hid her body in a stairwell.

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There, in a detention center, they slept on a school stairwell and survived on sporadic deliveries of powdered milk.

Read more on Salon

Mobile phones, cameras and other electronic gizmos surrendered, we squeezed along narrow corridors and down stairwells, including a bit of the building that was Henry VIII's tennis court.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• staircase