"backstreet" meaning in English

See backstreet in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Forms: more backstreet [comparative], most backstreet [superlative]
Etymology: From back + street. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|back|street}} back + street Head templates: {{en-adj}} backstreet (comparative more backstreet, superlative most backstreet)
  1. Associated with neighborhoods on back streets, often in older neighborhoods, with poorer residents.
    Sense id: en-backstreet-en-adj-mhfKz-9y Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 48 40 12 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 45 39 16 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 47 40 13
  2. (figuratively) Done in poor and unsanitary conditions, secretly and illegally; back-alley. Tags: figuratively
    Sense id: en-backstreet-en-adj-jbyFXjS3 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 48 40 12 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 45 39 16 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 47 40 13
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: back-street

Noun

Forms: backstreets [plural]
Etymology: From back + street. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|back|street}} back + street Head templates: {{en-noun}} backstreet (plural backstreets)
  1. Alternative spelling of back street Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: back street
    Sense id: en-backstreet-en-noun-9Qf8RYJl Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 48 40 12 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 45 39 16 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 47 40 13
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: back-street

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "back",
        "3": "street"
      },
      "expansion": "back + street",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From back + street.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more backstreet",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most backstreet",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "backstreet (comparative more backstreet, superlative most backstreet)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 40 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "45 39 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "47 40 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1949, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 18, in The God-Seeker, New York: Popular Library, page 94:",
          "text": "The agency was given to some deserving politician who, as he knew nothing at all about Indians and spoke no language except traces of back-street American, would not be prejudiced in Indian affairs and interfere with the highly informed traders.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1983, “Uptown Girl”, in Billy Joel (music), An Innocent Man:",
          "text": "She's been living in her uptown world / I bet she's never had a backstreet guy / I bet her momma never told her why",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989, Carol Shields, “Times of Sickness and Health”, in The Collected Stories, Random House Canada, published 2004, page 349:",
          "text": "They made these things for almost nothing, cutting them out of remnants they scrambled for in backstreet fabric outlets.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Associated with neighborhoods on back streets, often in older neighborhoods, with poorer residents."
      ],
      "id": "en-backstreet-en-adj-mhfKz-9y",
      "links": [
        [
          "neighborhood",
          "neighborhood"
        ],
        [
          "back street",
          "back street"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 40 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "45 39 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "47 40 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1965 June 15, Renée Short, Hansard:",
          "text": "The results of self-induced and backstreet abortions come to our hospitals for the damage to be put right.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Done in poor and unsanitary conditions, secretly and illegally; back-alley."
      ],
      "id": "en-backstreet-en-adj-jbyFXjS3",
      "links": [
        [
          "unsanitary",
          "unsanitary"
        ],
        [
          "secretly",
          "secretly"
        ],
        [
          "illegally",
          "illegally"
        ],
        [
          "back-alley",
          "back-alley"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) Done in poor and unsanitary conditions, secretly and illegally; back-alley."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "back-street"
    }
  ],
  "word": "backstreet"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "back",
        "3": "street"
      },
      "expansion": "back + street",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From back + street.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backstreets",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "backstreet (plural backstreets)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "back street"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 40 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "45 39 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "47 40 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative spelling of back street"
      ],
      "id": "en-backstreet-en-noun-9Qf8RYJl",
      "links": [
        [
          "back street",
          "back street#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "back-street"
    }
  ],
  "word": "backstreet"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "back",
        "3": "street"
      },
      "expansion": "back + street",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From back + street.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more backstreet",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most backstreet",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "backstreet (comparative more backstreet, superlative most backstreet)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1949, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 18, in The God-Seeker, New York: Popular Library, page 94:",
          "text": "The agency was given to some deserving politician who, as he knew nothing at all about Indians and spoke no language except traces of back-street American, would not be prejudiced in Indian affairs and interfere with the highly informed traders.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1983, “Uptown Girl”, in Billy Joel (music), An Innocent Man:",
          "text": "She's been living in her uptown world / I bet she's never had a backstreet guy / I bet her momma never told her why",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989, Carol Shields, “Times of Sickness and Health”, in The Collected Stories, Random House Canada, published 2004, page 349:",
          "text": "They made these things for almost nothing, cutting them out of remnants they scrambled for in backstreet fabric outlets.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Associated with neighborhoods on back streets, often in older neighborhoods, with poorer residents."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "neighborhood",
          "neighborhood"
        ],
        [
          "back street",
          "back street"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1965 June 15, Renée Short, Hansard:",
          "text": "The results of self-induced and backstreet abortions come to our hospitals for the damage to be put right.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Done in poor and unsanitary conditions, secretly and illegally; back-alley."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "unsanitary",
          "unsanitary"
        ],
        [
          "secretly",
          "secretly"
        ],
        [
          "illegally",
          "illegally"
        ],
        [
          "back-alley",
          "back-alley"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) Done in poor and unsanitary conditions, secretly and illegally; back-alley."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "back-street"
    }
  ],
  "word": "backstreet"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "back",
        "3": "street"
      },
      "expansion": "back + street",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From back + street.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "backstreets",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "backstreet (plural backstreets)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "back street"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative spelling of back street"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "back street",
          "back street#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "back-street"
    }
  ],
  "word": "backstreet"
}

Download raw JSONL data for backstreet meaning in English (3.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.