back alley

See also: back-alley

English

A back alley in Devonport

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

back alley (plural back alleys)

1. An alleyway that runs behind a row of houses, or between rows of houses
   • 2016 May 23, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “Apocalypse pits the strengths of the X-Men series against the weaknesses”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[1]:

     Apocalypse also happens to be a Fagin figure, shuffling around the back alleys of Cairo, where he makes the weather-controlling pickpocket Storm (Alexandra Shipp) his first follower by offering her baubles.

2. (slang, euphemistic) The anus.
   • 1991, Mack Tanner, The Stalker, page 178:

     Nobody goes up my back alley without a rubber on and I don't do heroin, so what's the worry?

   • 2018, Ralph Breaks the Internet (film)

     RALPH: This dress is not made for a big boy. It's going right up the back alley there.

Usage notes

• In the United Kingdom, a residence or other premises whose only entrance is on a back alley will have an address of the form "Back of [number] Something Street", where the row of houses is in "Something Street".

Derived terms

• back-alley

Translations

an alleyway that runs behind a row of houses

• French: ruelle (fr) f
• Latin: sēmitārius m

the anus

• French: entrée des artistes f, porte de derrière f, entrée de service f, couloir à lentilles m