Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Secret or surreptitious; clandestine.
  • adjective Devious or underhanded.
  • adjective Sports Of or directed toward a player who has slipped behind the opposing defense.
  • noun An unofficial and often improper entrance or channel.
  • noun A means of access to a computer system that allows unauthorized users to circumvent normal authentication procedures.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Acting from behind and in concealment; backstairs.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Alternative spelling of back door.
  • verb Alternative spelling of back door.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an undocumented way to get access to a computer system or the data it contains
  • noun a secret or underhand means of access (to a place or a position)
  • noun an entrance at the rear of a building

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the phrase back door.

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Examples

  • Kind of brings new meaning to the term backdoor pass.

    A Twist of Word and Mind rambodoc 2009

  • We have got what we call a backdoor cold front which is dropping through the region.

    CNN Transcript May 13, 2007 2007

  • Simon Derrick, of Bank of New York Mellon, said the move was fuelling speculation that Beijing was involved in backdoor deals with the US administration to nudge its currency upwards.

    China's interest rate rise sends global markets into turmoil Phillip Inman 2010

  • There exists secret laws that both deny the publication of the said laws and that force Google and other search engines to give access for the US government for all these data, as well as builtin backdoor access for US government into every single windows OS there is.

    Aol Releases Googles most prized Keyword List… Google is gonna get mega spammed. « The Paradigm Shift 2006

  • As part of the program approved by President Bush for domestic surveillance without warrants, the N.S.A. has gained the cooperation of American telecommunications companies to obtain backdoor access to streams of domestic and international communications, the officials said.

    December 2005 2005

  • As part of the program approved by President Bush for domestic surveillance without warrants, the N.S.A. has gained the cooperation of American telecommunications companies to obtain backdoor access to streams of domestic and international communications, the officials said.

    Boing Boing: December 18, 2005 - December 24, 2005 Archives 2005

  • As part of the program approved by President Bush for domestic surveillance without warrants, the N.S.A. has gained the cooperation of American telecommunications companies to obtain backdoor access to streams of domestic and international communications, the officials said.

    12/24/2005 2005

  • As part of the program approved by President Bush for domestic surveillance without warrants, the N.S.A. has gained the cooperation of American telecommunications companies to obtain backdoor access to streams of domestic and international communications, the officials said.

    12/24/2005 2005

  • The Santa Teresa or Salkantay Trek is sometimes referred to as the backdoor route to the ruins.

    The Independent - Frontpage RSS Feed 2011

  • Most Americans don’t trust our politicians and to pass something this massive through the backdoor is not going to help congress earn that trust.

    Think Progress » Pete Sessions Agrees That ‘Deem And Pass’ Is Legitimate 2010

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