adj
Meaning 1
Secret or furtive.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
backstairs
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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CMU ARPABET: B AE1 K S T EH2 R Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Scandalous.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A staircase at the rear of a building or one normally only used by servants and tradesmen.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: plural, plural-only
Examples
- 1905, Ernest William Hornung, “The Spoils of Sacrilege” in A Thief in the Night, Other feet were already in the lower flight of the backstairs; but the upper flight was the one for me, and in an instant we were racing along the upper corridor [...]
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
An indirect or furtive means of access or intercourse.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: plural, plural-only
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
secret and sly or sordid- A.L.Guerard
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- backstairs gossip
- his low backstairs cunning
- backstairs intimacies
- furtive behavior
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: backstair, furtive
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
a second staircase at the rear of a building
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: stairway, staircase
History
Etymology
From back + stairs.
Across languages
Translations
1 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: задкулисен (zadkulisen) — Secret or furtive
Real reading context