door (doors plural )
1 n-count A door is a piece of wood, glass, or metal, which is moved to open and close the entrance to a building, room, cupboard, or vehicle.
I knocked at the front door, but there was no answer..., The policeman opened the door and looked in...
2 n-count A door is the space in a wall when a door is open.
(=doorway)
She looked through the door of the kitchen. Her daughter was at the stove.
3 n-plural Doors is used in expressions such as a few doors down or three doors up to refer to a place that is a particular number of buildings away from where you are.
INFORMAL amount N down/up
Mrs Cade's house was only a few doors down from her daughter's apartment.
5 When you answer the door, you go and open the door because a visitor has knocked on it or rung the bell.
answer the door phrase V inflects
Carol answered the door as soon as I knocked.
6 If you say that someone gets or does something by the back door or through the back door, you are criticizing them for doing it secretly and unofficially.
by/through the back door phrase PHR after v (disapproval)
The government would not allow anyone to sneak in by the back door and seize power by force...
7 If someone closes the door on something, they stop thinking about it or dealing with it.
close the door on something phrase V inflects: PHR n
We never close the door on a successful series.
8 If people have talks and discussions behind closed doors, they have them in private because they want them to be kept secret.
behind closed doors phrase PHR after v, PHR n
...decisions taken in secret behind closed doors.
9 If someone goes from door to door or goes door to door, they go along a street calling at each house in turn, for example selling something.
from door to door/door to door phrase PHR after v, PHR n
They are going from door to door collecting money from civilians.
10 If you talk about a distance or journey from door to door or door to door, you are talking about the distance from the place where the journey starts to the place where it finishes.
from door to door/door to door phrase
...tickets covering the whole journey from door to door...
11 If you say that something helps someone to get their foot in the door or their toe in the door, you mean that it gives them an opportunity to start doing something new, usually in an area that is difficult to succeed in.
foot in the door phrase N inflects, PHR after v
The bondholding may help the firm get its foot in the door to win the business...
12 If someone shuts the door in your face or slams the door in your face, they refuse to talk to you or give you any information.
shut/slam the door in someone's face phrase V inflects
Did you say anything to him or just shut the door in his face?
13 If you lay something at someone's door, you blame them for an unpleasant event or situation.
lay something at someone's door phrase V inflects
The blame is generally laid at the door of the government.
14 If someone or something opens the doorto a good new idea or situation, they introduce it or make it possible.
open the door to something phrase V and N inflect, oft PHR to n
This book opens the door to some of the most exciting findings in solid-state physics...
15 When you are out of doors, you are not inside a building, but in the open air.
out of doors phrase PHR after v, v-link PHR
(=outdoors)
The weather was fine enough for working out of doors.
16 If you see someone to the door, you go to the door with a visitor when they leave.
see someone to the door phrase V inflects
17 If someone shows you the door, they ask you to leave because they are angry with you.
show someone the door phrase V inflects
Would they forgive and forget<endash>or show him the door?
18 →
at death's door →
death
door-to-door
→
door
French door (French doors plural )French doors are the same as French windows. n-count usu pl
front door (front doors plural )The front door of a house or other building is the main door, which is usually in the wall that faces a street. n-count
next door
The adjective is also spelled next-door.
1 adv If a room or building is next door, it is the next one to the right or left.
ADV after v, be ADV, n ADV
I went next door to the bathroom..., She was next door at the time., ...the old lady who lived next door..., The flat next door was empty.
Next door is also an adjective., adj ADJ n
She wandered back into the next door room..., The wires trailed through other parts of the HQ into a next door building.
If a room or building is next door to another one, it is the next one to the left or right., prep-phrase
The kitchen is right next door to the dining room.
2 adv The people next door are the people who live in the house or flat to the right or left of yours.
n ADV
The neighbors thought the family next door had moved.
Next door is also an adjective., adj ADJ n
Our next door neighbour knocked on the door to say that our car had been stolen.
3 If you refer to someone as the boy next door or the girl next door, you mean that they are pleasant and respectable but rather dull.
the boy next door/the girl next door phrase
She was the girl-next-door type.
next door's
You can use next door's to indicate that something belongs to the person or people who live in the house to the right or left of your own. det
...next door's dog.
open-door , open door
If a country or organization has an open-door policy towards people or goods, it allows them to come there freely, without any restrictions. adj ADJ n
...reformers who have advocated an open door economic policy.
Open door is also a noun., n-sing
...an open door to further foreign investment.
patio door (patio doors plural )Patio doors are glass doors that lead onto a patio. n-count
revolving door (revolving doors plural )
1 n-count Some large buildings have revolving doors instead of an ordinary door. They consist of four glass doors which turn together in a circle around a vertical post.
usu pl
As he went through the revolving doors he felt his courage deserting him.
2 n-count When you talk about a revolving door, you mean a situation in which the employees or owners of an organization keep changing.
usu sing (disapproval)
They have accepted an offer from another firm with a busy revolving door.
screen door (screen doors plural )A screen door is a door made of fine netting which is on the outside of the main door of a house. It is used to keep insects out when the main door is open. n-count
sliding door (sliding doors plural )Sliding doors are doors which slide together rather than swinging on hinges. n-count
stage door (stage doors plural )Thestage door of a theatre is the entrance used by actors and actresses and by employees of the theatre. n-count usu the N in sing
swing door (swing doors plural )Swing doors are doors that can open both towards you and away from you.
(mainly BRIT) n-count usu pl
in AM, usually use swinging door
swinging door (swinging doors plural )Swinging doors are doors that can open both towards you and away from you.
(AM) n-count usu pl
in BRIT, use swing door
