Backstairs

Definitions

1. A staircase at the rear of a building or one normally only used by servants and tradesmen.
   plural, plural-only
2. An indirect or furtive means of access or intercourse.
   plural, plural-only

Equivalents

Examples

“Here I diſcovered the ſecret Cauſes of many great Events that have⟳ ſurprized the World, how a Whore can govern the Back-ſtairs, the Back-ſtairs a Council, and the Council a Senate.”

“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 […]”

“The straight-forward course, they say⟳, would be to proclaim outright, instead of trying to bring⟳ it in by the backstairs.”

CEFR level