door

Pluraldoors

Formsdoors, dooring, doored

1. 1
   entry (building)nouncountable

   A movable panel, usually hinged or sliding, that opens and closes the entrance to a building, room, vehicle, or container such as a cabinet or oven.

   She knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

   The car's rear doors were dented in the crash.

   UsageKnock on or at the door; answer the door. Someone at the door is waiting outside.

   Note

   It names the movable panel as well as the entrance. Margery Allingham's character "opened the door a foot," while in W. B. Maxwell's The Mirror and the Lamp (1918) a procession walks down the nave to a church's western door. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • A character in Margery Allingham's fiction says she opened the door a foot. fadedpage.com
   • W. B. Maxwell wrote The Mirror and the Lamp, published in 1918. en.wikisource.org
   • The novel describes the choir and clergy proceeding down the nave to the church's western door. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   nouncountable

   The gap in a wall or vehicle that people pass through to enter or leave; the doorway.

   A tall man filled the door, blocking the light from the hall.

   Passengers squeezed one by one through the narrow door at the back of the bus.

   UsageYou walk through or stand in the door as an opening; doorway makes the meaning clear.

   Similardoorway, entrance

   Note

   English uses one word for the panel and the gap it closes, and prepositions usually tell them apart.

3. 3
   nounfigurativelycountable

   A means of access or an opening to something, such as an opportunity; also a possibility that is kept open.

   A mentor can be the door to opportunities you'd never find alone.

   Their introduction served as a door into the city's art world.

   UsageUsually a door to or into something; often open the door to new chances.

   Similargateway, path, key, avenue

4. 4
   housenounmetonymicallycountableplural

   A dwelling or building, especially as counted by its entrance when numbering houses along a street.

   The shop is only a few doors down from the station.

   She borrowed sugar from the woman next door.

   UsageCounts houses along a street: three doors down, five doors up; also next door.

   Similarhouse

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