backstairs

== English == === Alternative forms === back-stairs === Etymology === From back +‎ stairs. === Pronunciation === === Noun === backstairs pl (plural only) A staircase at the rear of a building or one normally only used by servants and tradesmen. 1905, Ernest William Hornung, “The Spoils of Sacrilege” in A Thief in the Night, [1] 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 […] An indirect or furtive means of access or intercourse. === Adjective === backstairs (comparative more backstairs, superlative most backstairs) Secret or furtive. Scandalous. ==== Synonyms ==== backstair ==== Translations ====