door

door / dôr/ • n. a hinged, sliding, or revolving barrier at the entrance to a building, room, or vehicle, or in the framework of a cupboard. ∎  a doorway: she walked through the door. ∎  used to refer to the distance from one building in a row to another: they lived within three doors of each other. ∎ fig. a means of access, admission, or exit; a means to a specified end: that audition was the door to all my future successes | a democratic educational system requires multiple doors. PHRASES: at the door on admission to an event rather than in advance: tickets will be available at the door. close (or shut) the door on (or to) exclude the opportunity for: she had closed the door on ever finding out what he was feeling. (from) door to door 1. from start to finish of a journey: the trip from door to door could take more than four hours. 2. visiting all the houses in an area to sell or publicize something: he went from door to door selling insurance policies | [as adj.] a door-to-door-salesman. lay something at someone's door regard someone as responsible for something: the failure is laid at the door of the government. leave the door open ensure that there is still an opportunity for something: he is leaving the door open for future change. open the door to create an opportunity for: her research has opened the door to a deeper understanding of the subject. out of doors in or into the open air: food tastes even better out of doors. show someone the door see show.DERIVATIVES: doored adj. [in comb.] a glass-doored desk. ORIGIN: Old English duru, dor, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch deur ‘door’ and German Tür ‘door,’ Tor ‘gate’; from an Indo-European root shared by Latin foris ‘gate’ and Greek thura ‘door.’