back-alley

back-al·ley

B b

Transcription

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

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

Definitions of back-alley word

adjective back-alley Back-alley activities are carried out unofficially, secretly, and often illegally. 3
noun back-alley a narrow passageway behind a row of houses or buildings 3
adjective back-alley dirty, unprepossessing, sordid, or clandestine: back-alley morals; back-alley political schemes. 1
adjective back-alley Occurring away from publicity, or in mean surroundings; back-street. 0

See all 4 definitions of back-alley

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

Full grammatical hierarchy of Back-alley

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.