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back alley

back al·ley
B b

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [bak al-ee]
    • /bæk ˈæl i/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [bak al-ee]
    • /bæk ˈæl i/

Definitions of back alley words

  • adjective back alley dirty, unprepossessing, sordid, or clandestine: back-alley morals; back-alley political schemes. 1
  • noun back alley An alleyway that runs behind a row of houses, or between rows of houses. 0

Information block about the term

Origin of back alley

First appearance:

before 1860
One of the 29% newest English words
An Americanism dating back to 1860-65

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Back alley

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

back alley popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 37% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
According to our data about 70% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

back alley usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for back alley

noun back alley

  • roadway — the land over which a road is built; a road together with the land at its edge.
  • lane — a male given name.
  • boulevard — A boulevard is a wide street in a city, usually with trees along each side.
  • court — A court is a place where legal matters are decided by a judge and jury or by a magistrate.
  • thoroughfare — a road, street, or the like, that leads at each end into another street.

See also

Matching words

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