door

door

I

door¹ S1 W1 /dɔː $ dɔːr/ noun [countable]
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.

II

door² verb [transitive]
to hit someone with a car door when they are riding past on a bicycle:
    I nearly got doored as I went past the flats in Camden Street.