GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Backstairs, Back stairs.  n. Stairs in the back part of a house, as distinguished from the front stairs; a second staircase at the rear of a building; hence, a private or indirect way.
   1913 Webster
    + 
   WordNet 1.5
         
       

2.       
   { Backstairs, Backstair }, a. Private; indirect; secret; conducted with secrecy; intriguing; -- as if finding access by the back stairs; as, backstairs gossip.
   Syn. -- clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, hugger-mugger, hush-hush, on the quiet(predicate), secret, subterranean, surreptitious, undercover, underground.
   1913 Webster
    + 
   WordNet 1.5
   A backstairs influence.
   Burke.
   
   1913 Webster
   Female caprice and backstair influence.
   Trevelyan.
   
   1913 Webster