back stairs
Americannoun
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stairs at the back of a house, as for use by servants.
-
a means of intrigue.
Etymology
Origin of back stairs
First recorded in 1620–30
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.
When hearing his voice, some attempt to reach through the shrubbery while others make a run for the back stairs in hopes of seeing him.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2025
“They were in the process of exiting the building, and were in the stairwell of the building — back stairs, specifically — when the significant explosion occurred.”
From Washington Post • Mar. 7, 2022
One day she “snuck down the back stairs into the testosterone zone,” she told The Democrat and Chronicle, and, only slightly intimidated, approached Mr. Felker, an editor there.
From New York Times • Aug. 25, 2020
Then I'd walk up the back stairs, give her a kiss and she'd take off. leaving me on the stage to start singing.
From BBC • Sep. 6, 2018
As usual, he opened the door from the back stairs to the kitchen only a crack.
From "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
