backroom
nounUK /ˈbækˌɹuːm/ · US /ˈbækˌɹum/
Etymology Compound of back + room
› A room near the rear of a premises.
1
Figuratively, Often Especially, one that is only accessible to a privileged few and can be used as an inconspicuous meeting place, where secrecy, anonymity, and even crooked dealings may occur.
- Near-synonym: smoke-filled room (meeting place of crooked insiders)
- backroom deals
3 more examples
- backroom bargaining
- It is known that means of using this end of the former NLR and Broad Street station to take an overspill of traffic from Liverpool Street have been under backroom study for some time.1964 July, “News and Comment: The Broad Street-Richmond line”, in Modern Railways, page 17:
- The vote for a new prime minister will involve plenty of backroom bargaining, while Thailand struggles to revive its faltering economy.2024 August 14, “Thai court dismisses PM for violating constitution”, in bbc.com:
2
A storeroom in the rear of the premises.
- We had thought that they were out of the old model, but somebody checked in the backroom and found a case of them.
- Derived terms
- Backrooms
- Related terms
- backroom boy, backroom staff
- Hyponyms
- back office, back of house
- Meronyms
- back door, backdoor