Word.ws English Dictionary

back stairs

back stairs is the alternative spelling of backstairs.

Meaning of backstairs

Noun

backstairs pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) A staircase at the rear of a building or one normally only used by servants and tradesmen.
    • 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.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Further Account of Glubbdubdrib. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte...
  2. (plural, plural-only) An indirect or furtive means of access or intercourse.
    • The straight-forward course, they say, would be to proclaim outright, instead of trying to bring it in by the backstairs.1934 March 27, “De Valera Move Hits Dignity Of Governor-General”, in Christian Science Monitor

See all 4 meanings of backstairs

Questions about back stairs

What is back stairs the alternative spelling of?
Back stairs is the alternative spelling of backstairs.

Words near back stairs in the dictionary

  1. back slap
  2. back slaps
  3. back slash
  4. back slashes
  5. back squat
  6. back stairs
  7. back stamp
  8. back stamped
  9. back stamping
  10. back stamps
  11. back stories

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: back stairs (page history and authors); backstairs (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “back stairs.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/back_stairs. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.