back room

American

Or backroom

noun

a room located in the rear, especially one used only by certain people.
a place where powerful or influential persons, especially politicians, meet to plan secretly or from which they exercise control in an indirect manner.

The candidate for mayor was chosen in the precincts' back rooms.

back room British

noun

1. a place where research or planning is done, esp secret research in wartime
2. ( as modifier )
  
  back-room boys

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of back room

First recorded in 1585–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He’s heavier than the largest T. Rex ever unearthed, so huge that his magnificent tusks and skull had to be stored separately, in a back room.

From The Wall Street Journal

Gavin Vaughan, Scotland's chief analyst and a long-time part of Townsend's back room, is reportedly joining the club, external as head of recruitment at the end of the Six Nations.

From BBC

When Dann moved into a back room with more space, Tracy and I were left with our own bedrooms.

From The Wall Street Journal

The wet-dog scent of shampooing going on in the back room.

From Literature

Hunched over a laptop in the back room, another soldier admits that "victory" in this war looks very different these days.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023