back door

noun

1. a secret or underhand means of access (to a place or a position) (Freq. 1)

-

he got his job through the back door

• Syn: ↑backdoor

• Hypernyms: ↑access

2. an undocumented way to get access to a computer system or the data it contains

• Syn: ↑backdoor

• Hypernyms: ↑access, ↑access code

3. an entrance at the rear of a building

• Syn: ↑backdoor, ↑back entrance

• Hypernyms: ↑exterior door, ↑outside door

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noun

1.

a. : a door in the back or to the rear of something, especially a habitation

b. : an entrance or approach (as to a country) regarded as at the back and usually distant or geographically opposite the main route of approach

but the richest area of all the peninsula was found … at the back door of Nome — Encyc. Americana

the back door of Egypt — Hassoldt Davis

2. : an indirect, surreptitious, underhanded, or illegal means or way

the West entered America's popular literature through the back door of humor — J.D.Hart

depends more and more on western back doors for essential war supplies — Amerasia

a junk shop with a back-door trade in hides from illegally killed cattle — H.L.Davis

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1. a door at the rear of a house, building, etc.

2. a secret, furtive, or illicit method, manner, or means.

[1520-30]

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back door noun

1. A door in the back part of a building

2. Clandestine or illicit means

• • •

Main Entry: ↑back

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back door UK US noun [countable] [singular back door plural back doors] ★

a door at the back or side of a building

Thesaurus: doors and windows_hyponym parts of doors and windows_meronym

Phrases: by the back door ▪ through the back door

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back door,

1. a door in the back of a room or house.

2. Figurative. a secret, devious, or irregular means. »

[She] charged that the Democratic plan was “socialized medicine by the back door” (New York Times).

back|door «BAK DR, -DOHR», adjective.

unofficial or irregular; secret; clandestine; devious: »

“Backdoor” financing bypasses the appropriations process and draws money direct from the Treasury (Wall Street Journal).

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1.

n. the door or entrance at the back of a building

2.

adj. (also backdoor) [attrib.] (of an activity) clandestine; underhanded

backdoor private deals

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noun, pl ⋯ doors [count]

: a door at the back of a building

— often used figuratively

He managed to get into the private club through the back door [=in a secret or indirect way] because he has a friend who works there.

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ˌback ˈdoor 7 [back door back doors] noun

the door at the back or side of a building

Idiom: ↑by the back door