doorstep en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈdɔː(ɹ)stɛp/
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer-der. Proto-Germanic *durz Proto-West Germanic *dur Old English duru Middle English dore English door English step English doorstep From door + step.
Meanings
-
An outside step leading up to the door of a building, usually a home.
The narrow streets that twist and turn through the compact heart of Dent are surfaced with cobbles which, in the absence of pavements, spread right across from doorstep to doorstep.
1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 150:With a little manœuvring they contrived to meet on the doorstep which was […] in a boiling stream of passers-by, hurrying business people speeding past in a flurry of fumes and dust in the bright haze.
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 10, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:Ailie was standing by the doorstep as he came down the road, and her heart stood still with joy.
1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
-
(figuratively) One's immediate neighborhood or locality.
They want to build the prison right on our doorstep; it will only be half a mile away and being that close scares me.
As a Hitchin signalman once pointed out to me, when a regulating quandary arises concerning a fast-moving Class A train there is no time to consult Control and get their answer before the express is on one's doorstep.
1962 May, G. Freeman Allen, “Traffic control on the Great Northern Line”, in Modern Railways, page 343:Milk from the Eden Valley could be on London doorsteps the next morning. Limestone and agricultural lime from the Ribble Valley and gypsum from further north could at last be transported long distances by the trainload. The railway had been driven along, over and through the valuable substances that were on its doorstep, much akin to the situation in Britain's coalfields.
2021 November 17, Mark Rand, “Reconnecting rail freight to S&C quarries”, in RAIL, number 944, page 52:
-
(UK, informal) A thick slice, especially of bread.
I cut myself a doorstep of bread with masses of butter and went along to see Romanov while I was eating it.
2003, Diana Wynne Jones, The Merlin Conspiracy, P 241, →ISBN:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| doorsteps | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
on someone's doorstep · on death's doorstep · doorsteppy · darken someone's doorstep · sit on death's doorstep · doorstepper
Synonyms
Translations (48)
bg дебела филия (thick slice of bread) · mr उंबरठा (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · bo སྒོའི་ཐེམ (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · bg праг (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · fr seuil (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ca marxapeu (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · gl soarego (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · de Türschwelle (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · uk порі́г (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · gl limiar (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · cy trothwy (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · pl pajda (thick slice of bread) · sh prag (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ba буҫаға (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ota اشیك (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · es lumbral (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ba тупһа (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · th ธรณีประตู (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · sk prah (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ar عَتَبَةُ الْبَابِ (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · el κατώφλι (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ca llindar (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ru поро́г (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · sv tröskel (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · gl soleira (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · pt fationa (thick slice of bread) · sl prag (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · cy rhiniog (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · alt бозого (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · mk праг (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · de Eingangsstufe (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ja 戸口の踏み段 (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · pl skiba (thick slice of bread) · da dørtærskel (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · cs práh (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · pl próg (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · pt soleira (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · be паро́г (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · cmn 門階 /门阶 (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · la līmen (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · is dyraþrep (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ga tairseach (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · hu küszöb (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ro prag (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · fi kynnys (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · cmn 門檻 /门槛 (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · sh праг (outside step leading up to the door of a building) · ga leac dorais (outside step leading up to the door of a building)