backdoor

adjective

back·​door ˈbak-ˈdȯr How to pronounce backdoor (audio)
1
2
: involving or being a play in basketball in which a player moves behind the defense and toward the basket to receive a quick pass
a backdoor layup

Examples of backdoor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
That has businesses sounding an alarm about a possible backdoor tax hike. BORROWING AUTHORITY: Both parties in Congress face tough choices in a sprint to avoid a government default by legislatively lifting the cap on borrowing to pay U.S. bills. Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 26 Mar. 2025 Jenkins worries the court could use this case as a backdoor way to undermine the vote dilution protections of the Voting Rights Act, even though those protections were upheld two years ago. Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2025 Which means Apple understandably fears businesses using the DMA as a backdoor way of attaining access to extraordinarily valuable user information that Apple goes to great lengths to keep private. John Tamny, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025 Investors who earn too much for a Roth IRA can use the backdoor method to fund it. Marc Guberti, Sacramento Bee, 26 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for backdoor

Word History

First Known Use

1805, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of backdoor was in 1805

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Cite this Entry

“Backdoor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/backdoor. Accessed 6 Apr. 2025.

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