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.
Instead, they were directed through the kitchen and up the back stairs.
From Washington Post • Jul. 10, 2021
Deputies from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department — in black uniforms, with bulletproof vests and gold star badges — had climbed the back stairs with an eviction notice.
From New York Times • Dec. 18, 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
In the 1970s, David Letterman baby-sat her children and Jay Leno slept on the back stairs of her Sunset Strip club, where Jim Carrey later tended the door.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2018
“Versh, can you get them up the back stairs quiet. You, Jason, shut up that crying.”
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
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.
