Open the door!
Oxford Essential Dictionary
door
noun
the way into a building or room; a piece of wood, glass or metal that you use to open and close the way in to a building, room, cupboard, car, etc.:
Can you close the door, please?
Sophie knocked on the door. 'Come in,' Peter said.
There is somebody at the door.
Will you answer the door (= go to open the door when somebody knocks or rings the bell)?
A house often has a front door and a back door.
next door in the next house, room or building:
Mary lives next door to us.
out of doors outside; not in a building:
Farmers spend a lot of time out of doors.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
door
I. noun
I. door1 S1 W1 /dɔː $ dɔːr/ noun [countable]
[Language: Old English; Origin: duru 'door' and dor 'gate']
1. the large flat piece of wood, glass etc that you move when you go into or out of a building, room, vehicle etc, or when you open a cupboard ⇨ gate:
• Could you open the door for me?
• The door flew open and Ruth stormed in.
• Don’t forget to lock the garage door. ⇨ fire door, French doors, revolving door(1), sliding door, stage door, swing door, trapdoor
2. the space made by an open door SYN doorway
in/out (of)/through the door
• Rick turned and ran out of the door.
• I glanced through the open door.
3. at the door if someone is at the door, they are waiting for you to open the door of a building so they can come inside:
• There’s somebody at the front door.
4. out of doors outside SYN outdoors:
• I prefer working out of doors.
5. show/see somebody to the door to take someone to the main way out of a building:
• My secretary will show you to the door.
6. two/three etc doors away/down/up used to say how many houses or buildings there are between your house, office etc and another building
two/three etc doors away/down/up from
• Patrick lived two doors away from me.
7. (from) door to door
a) especially British English from one place to another:
• How long is the journey, door to door?
b) going to each house in a street or area to sell something, collect money, or ask for votes:
• Joe sold vacuum cleaners door to door for years. ⇨ door-to-door
8. be on the door to work at the entrance to a theatre, club etc, collecting tickets
9. shut/close the door on something to make something impossible:
• The accident shut the door on her ballet career.
⇨ at death’s door at death(7), ⇨ behind closed doors at closed(5), ⇨ get in through the back door at back door(2), ⇨ lay something at sb’s door at lay2(19), ⇨ next door, ⇨ open doors (for somebody) at open2(16), ⇨ open-door policy, ⇨ open the door to something at open2(16), ⇨ show somebody the door at show1(20)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS■ verbs
▪ open/close/shut the door • I opened the door and Dad was standing there. | • Can you close the door as you go out?
▪ slam/bang the door (=shut it loudly, usually because you are angry) • He strode from the room, slamming the door behind him.
▪ answer the door (=open it for someone who has knocked or pressed the bell) • Lucy ran downstairs to answer the door.
▪ a door leads somewhere (=used to say what place is on the other side of a door) • This door leads into the garden.
▪ a door opens/closes/shuts • We were still waiting for the train doors to open.
▪ a door slams/bangs (shut) (=shuts loudly) • I heard the front door slam.
▪ a door flies/bursts open (=opens very suddenly and quickly) • Then the door burst open and two men with guns came in.
▪ a door swings open/shut (=moves forward to open or backwards to shut) • The door swung shut behind me.
▪ a door slides open/shut (=moves smoothly to the side or back again) • The lift doors slid open and we got in.
▪ lock/unlock the door • I locked the door and turned out the lights.
▪ bolt the door (=slide a metal bar across to fasten it) • Once inside, he bolted the door.
▪ knock on/at the door (=hit it with your hand to make someone open it) • Who's that knocking at the door?
▪ bang/hammer on the door (=hit it very loudly and urgently) • A policeman was banging on the door across the road.
▪ tap on/at the door (=hit it very gently) • I tapped on the door and opened it.
▪ get the door (=open or close it for someone) • Could you get the door for me?
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + door
▪ the front/back/side door (=of a house) • I heard someone knocking at the front door. | • Use the back door if your boots are muddy.
▪ the main door (=the door into a building that most people use) • The main door to the hotel is on Queen Street.
▪ the kitchen/bedroom/bathroom etc door • The kitchen door opened and Jake walked in.
▪ the cupboard door British English, the closet door AmE: • Both the cupboard doors were locked.
▪ the fridge/oven door • Steam came out as I opened the oven door.
▪ a car door • She heard a car door slamming.
▪ the passenger door (=for the person in a car who sits beside the driver) • The taxi driver was holding open the passenger door.
▪ a rear door (=a door at the back of a vehicle) • The kids opened the rear doors and climbed in.
■ door + NOUN
▪ a door handle (=that you move up or down to open a door) • Ella reached for the door handle.
▪ a door knob (=that you turn to open a door) • I turned the door knob and went into the room.
▪ a door knocker (=a metal object on a door that you use to knock with) • There was a brass door knocker in the shape of a lion's head.
▪ a door bell (=that you press to make it ring) • Adam walked up the path and rang the door bell.
▪ a door key • She was looking in her bag for her door key.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
door
door [door doors] [dɔː(r)] [dɔːr] noun
1. countable a piece of wood, glass, etc. that is opened and closed so that people can get in and out of a room, building, car, etc; a similar thing in a cupboard/closet
• a knock on the door
• to open/shut/close/slam/lock/bolt the door
• to answer the door (= to go and open it because sb has knocked on it or rung the bell)
• the front/back door (= at the entrance at the front/back of a building)
• the bedroom door
• the door frame
• a four-door saloon car
• the fridge door
• Shut the door!
• Close the door behind you, please.
• The door closed behind him.
see also back-door, fire door, French door, open-door, revolving door, sliding door, stable door, stage door, swing door, trapdoor
2. countable the space when a door is open
• Marc appeared through a door at the far end of the room.
• (informal) She's just arrived— she's just come in the door.
• (informal) He walked out the door.
3. countable the area close to the entrance of a building
• There's somebody at the door (= at the front door of a house).
• ‘Can I help you?’ asked the man at the door.
see also doorway
4. countable a house, room, etc. that is a particular number of houses, rooms, etc. away from another
• the family that lives three doors up from us
• Our other branch is just a few doors down the road.
see also next door
5. uncountable (BrE) the amount of money made by selling tickets for an event
Syn: gate
• 50% of the door will go to the Red Cross.
• Performers keep 75% of the door.
more at by/through the back door at back adj., close, etc. the barn door after the horse has escaped at barn, beat a path to sb's door at beat v., close its doors at close1 v., behind closed doors at closed, never darken my door again at darken, at death's door at death, get/have a foot in the door at foot n., open doors for sb at open v., show sb the door at show v., close, etc. the stable door after the horse has bolted at stable door n., keep the wolf from the door at wolf n.
Idioms: door to door ▪ door to something ▪ lay something at somebody's door ▪ leave the door open ▪ on the door ▪ out of doors ▪ shut the door in somebody's face ▪ shut the door on something ▪ somebody's door
Word 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’.
Thesaurus:
door noun C
• There was a knock on the door.
entrance • • exit • • doorway • • way • • hatch • • gate • • gateway •
at the door/entrance/exit/gate
through the door/doorway/hatch/gate/gateway
the front/back/side door/entrance/exit/way/gate
open/shut/close/slam the door/hatch/gate
Example Bank:
• Always put the door chain on.
• Go along the corridor and through the double doors.
• Go and answer the door.
• He arrived home to find the door barred.
• He banged the front door behind him as he left.
• He came in the side door.
• He flung the door open and caught them stuffing a document back into a briefcase.
• He got stuck in a revolving door.
• He had left the door ajar.
• He leaned against the door jamb.
• He looked through the door to make sure the children were all right.
• He pulled the door shut.
• He stood in the door for several minutes before deciding whether he'd stay.
• He was working the door at the event.
• I banged on the door for ages but still couldn't wake them.
• I left the door on the latch so that I could sneak back in later.
• I stopped at a low oak door set in the stone wall.
• I tried the door but it was locked.
• I was woken by a door banging in the wind.
• I went through the door marked ‘Enquiries’.
• Parking is helped by wide door mirrors.
• Remember to bolt the door before you go to bed.
• She had trouble pushing the heavy door open.
• She poked her head through the door to say goodbye.
• She pushed her way through the swing doors.
• Someone had propped the fire door open with a pile of books.
• The car drove off with its rear door flapping open.
• The door bore a notice saying ‘Private’.
• The door burst open and a little boy ran in.
• The door connecting the two offices is kept locked.
• The door opens onto a sunny terrace.
• The door stood ajar so I could see a narrow section of the room.
• The door was half-open when we got there.
• The door was jammed shut.
• The inner door leads to the safe and is always locked after 5 p.m.
• There's someone at the door.
• They had to break the door down to get into the flat.
• This door leads to my bedroom.
• a creaking door hinge
• automatic garage door openers
• the back door of a house
• the door between the laundry room and the garage
• the door into the back garden
• the rear door of a car
• He walked out the door.
• Mark appeared through a door at the far end of the room.
• She's just arrived— she's just come in the door.
• There was a knock on the door.
• the bedroom/wardrobe door
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
door / dɔ r / / dɔr / noun [ C ]
A1 a flat object that is used to close the entrance of something such as a room or building, or the entrance itself:
the front door
the back door
a car door
a sliding door
The door to his bedroom was locked.
We could hear someone knocking at/on the door.
Could you open/close/shut the door, please?
She asked me to answer the door (= go and open it for someone) .
See picture door
be on the door
to work at the entrance of a building, collecting tickets or preventing particular people from entering
used to refer to a house or other building:
Sam only lives a few doors (away/up/down) from us.
The people next door ( to us) (= living in the house next to us) aren't very friendly.
out of doors
outside in the open air
© Cambridge University Press 2013
Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
door
/dɔ:(r)/
(doors)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
A door is a piece of wood, glass, or metal, which is moved to open and close the entrance to a building, room, cupboard, or vehicle.
I knocked at the front door, but there was no answer...
The policeman opened the door and looked in...
N-COUNT
2.
A door is the space in a wall when a door is open.
She looked through the door of the kitchen. Her daughter was at the stove.
= doorway
N-COUNT
3.
Doors is used in expressions such as a few doors down or three doors up to refer to a place that is a particular number of buildings away from where you are. (INFORMAL)
Mrs Cade’s house was only a few doors down from her daughter’s apartment.
N-PLURAL: amount N down/up
4.
see also next door
5.
When you answer the door, you go and open the door because a visitor has knocked on it or rung the bell.
Carol answered the door as soon as I knocked.
PHRASE: V inflects
6.
If you say that someone gets or does something by the back door or through the back door, you are criticizing them for doing it secretly and unofficially.
The government would not allow anyone to sneak in by the back door and seize power by force...
PHRASE: PHR after v [disapproval]
7.
If someone closes the door on something, they stop thinking about it or dealing with it.
We never close the door on a successful series.
PHRASE: V inflects: PHR n
8.
If people have talks and discussions behind closed doors, they have them in private because they want them to be kept secret.
...decisions taken in secret behind closed doors.
PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR n
9.
If someone goes from door to door or goes door to door, they go along a street calling at each house in turn, for example selling something.
They are going from door to door collecting money from civilians.
PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR n
10.
If you talk about a distance or journey from door to door or door to door, you are talking about the distance from the place where the journey starts to the place where it finishes.
...tickets covering the whole journey from door to door...
PHRASE
11.
If you say that something helps someone to get their foot in the door or their toe in the door, you mean that it gives them an opportunity to start doing something new, usually in an area that is difficult to succeed in.
The bondholding may help the firm get its foot in the door to win the business...
PHRASE: N inflects, PHR after v
12.
If someone shuts the door in your face or slams the door in your face, they refuse to talk to you or give you any information.
Did you say anything to him or just shut the door in his face?
PHRASE: V inflects
13.
If you lay something at someone’s door, you blame them for an unpleasant event or situation.
The blame is generally laid at the door of the government.
PHRASE: V inflects
14.
If someone or something opens the door to a good new idea or situation, they introduce it or make it possible.
This book opens the door to some of the most exciting findings in solid-state physics...
PHRASE: V and N inflect, oft PHR to n
15.
When you are out of doors, you are not inside a building, but in the open air.
The weather was fine enough for working out of doors.
= outdoors
PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR
16.
If you see someone to the door, you go to the door with a visitor when they leave.
PHRASE: V inflects
17.
If someone shows you the door, they ask you to leave because they are angry with you.
Would they forgive and forget–or show him the door?
PHRASE: V inflects
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
door
door /ˈdoɚ/ noun, pl doors [count]
1 a : a movable piece of wood, glass, or metal that swings or slides open and shut so that people can enter or leave a room, building, vehicle, etc.
• open/shut/slam/lock/bolt the door
• I heard a knock on/at the door.
• the bedroom/bathroom/cellar door
• The car has four doors. = It's a four-door car.
• Leave the package at the front/back/side door. [=the door at the front/back/side of the house, building, etc.]
• Can you answer the door? [=open the door to see who is knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell]
• Is somebody at the door? [=knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell]
• Let me open the door for you. = (US) Let me get the door for you.
• (US) Can you get the door? [=can you open or close the door for me?] My hands are full.
• an exterior/outside door [=a door that can be used to enter or leave a building]
• an interior door [=a door inside a building; a door that connects rooms]
• a garage door [=a large door that covers the opening through which a car enters and leaves a garage]
• turn/pull the door handle
• a large brass door knocker [=knocker]
- see also back door, dutch door, french door, revolving door, storm door, trapdoor
b : a part of an object (such as piece of furniture or an appliance) that swings or slides open and shut
• the cupboard/closet/refrigerator/oven door
2 : the opening for a door : the entrance to a room or building : doorway
• Please don't block the door.
• I peeked through the open door.
• He stood at/before the door.
• He greeted his guests as they came in/through the door. = He greeted his guests at the door.
• She walked out the door [=left] without saying goodbye.
• standing (just/right) inside/outside the door [=inside/outside the room, building, etc., near the door]
3 : a house, building, apartment, office, etc. - used with an adverb to indicate where something is in relation to something else
• She lives in a house two doors down/up from me. [=there is one house between our houses]
• The library is a few doors down from the bank. [=there are several buildings between the library and the bank]
• We grew up two doors apart. [=with one house/apartment between our houses/apartments]
✦If you do something (from) door to door, you do it at each of the houses, apartments, or buildings in an area.
• Girl Scouts are selling cookies door to door. = Girl Scouts are going door to door selling cookies.
• She went (from) door to door looking for her cat.
- see also door-to-door, next door
4
- used especially with open or unlock to describe an opportunity or possibility
• The grant will open new doors for our town. [=will give our town new opportunities]
• The discovery may unlock the door to a cure for the disease.
• The door is open (to you) if you want a better job.
• A good education can open/unlock the door of success. [=can make success possible]
• The patent on the product has expired, which leaves the door open for [=makes it possible for] other companies to make it.
- see also out of doors
at death's door
- see death
behind closed doors
- see closed
close the door on : to no longer think about, consider, or accept (something)
• I'd like to close the door on that chapter in my life.
• The former senator says she hasn't closed the door on politics.
• Don't close the door on your options.
close your doors
1 : to not allow someone to enter
• The country has closed its doors to immigrants.
2 of a business or organization : to close permanently : to stop operating
• The museum may be forced to close its doors.
• The store closed its doors (for the last time) last fall.
darken someone's door/doors
- see darken
get your foot in the door
- see 1foot
keep the wolf from the door
- see 1wolf
lay the blame for (something) at someone's door : to blame someone for (something)
• They laid the blame for the book's failure at my door.
open doors for
- see 2open
open the door
- see 2open
open your doors
1 : to allow someone to enter
• The country has opened its doors to immigrants.
• local churches that open their doors to the homeless in the winter months [=that let homeless people stay there]
2 of a business or organization : to open for business : to begin operating
• The new store will be opening its doors next month.
show (someone) the door : to tell or force (someone) to leave
• We don't tolerate bad behavior. If you cause trouble, we'll show you the door.
• If the coach doesn't win this year, they'll show him the door. [=they'll fire him]
show/see (someone) to the door : to go to the door with (someone who is leaving)
• My secretary will show you to the door. [=show you out]
- doorless adj
• a doorless cubicle