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Meanings of backstairs in English

Secret and sly or sordid.

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Synonyms
Examples for "furtive"
Examples for "furtive"
1
He conceived the idea that there was something furtive in her movements.
Fire-Tongue
2
The furtive quality in that quick peek sort of breaks Jack's heart.
Black house
3
The next thing you notice is the furtive look of the thief.
History of the Gatling Gun Detachment, Fifth Army Corps, at Sant...
4
In his eyes shone the furtive, terrified light of the trapped criminal.
The Black Box
5
People looked furtive, and went in and out of the houses furtively.
Flames
1
We went clapping up a clean stone backstair, and then into a back passage cheerfully decorated with ragged light-green Kidderminster, and issued upon
The Book of Snobs
2
And Miss Verity descended the backstairs again.
Deadham Hard: A Romance
3
His reading is principally Memoirs, which I think I have heard you call 'The backstairs of history.'
Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith
4
"He wasn't groom of the backstairs to England's queen for nothing."
The Lion and the Mouse; a Story of an American Life
5
Had she been a second-hand clothes dealer, a frequenter of the backstairs of great houses, or had she been merely a courtesan?
Father Goriot
Usage of backstairs in English
1
I do not believe in backstairs diplomacy any more than Dr. Hollweg.
Face to Face with Kaiserism
2
He would never believe it-itwas a nasty piece of backstairs gossip!
The Metropolis
3
Medical need, rather than a backstairs political deal, should always direct health policy.
The Irish Times
4
There is a little cad down the backstairs who does it.
Doctor Claudius, A True Story
5
Jewel found the backstairs and ascended them, her little heart hot within her.
Jewel: A Chapter in Her Life
6
I picked up my muddy clothes and started down the backstairs.
Biggie and the devil diet
7
And the quieter, decenter, respectabler, innocenter a man looked-likeenough!-thedarker those backstairs!
The Best British Short Stories of 1922
8
Positions held long term can be backstairs bets on markets.
Reuters
9
Marking their track by a running stream of water, they crept up the backstairs.
More William
10
A backstairs way of discrediting a master before his servants.
The Road to Damascus, a Trilogy
11
Not a single event was immune from malicious backstairs comment.
The Goose Man
12
I ran down the backstairs and out through the alley.
A fare to remember: just whistle\driven to distraction\taken for...
13
He speaks of secret communications between the executive and members, of backstairs influence, &tc..
Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, From the Papers of Tho...
14
Raymond van Houst-a ridiculous name!-fitonly for a backstairs romance.
Maurice Guest
15
He didn't ask his bedroom or hers...but took her up the backstairs to his bed.
Here comes trouble
16
Biggie, dressed in her turquoise jogging suit, came down the backstairs and picked it up.
Biggie and the devil diet
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More collocations
Backstairs through the time