doorstep

English

Etymology

Fromdoor+‎step.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈdɔː(ɹ)stɛp/

• Audio(Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɛp

Noun

doorstep(pluraldoorsteps)

1. Anoutsidestepleadingup to thedoorof abuilding,usually ahome.

   Synonym:doorsill

   • 1902,John Buchan,The Outgoing of the Tide:

     Ailie was standing by thedoorstepas he came down the road, and her heart stood still with joy.

   • 1963,Margery Allingham,chapter 10, inThe China Governess: A Mystery,London:Chatto & Windus,→OCLC:

     With a little manœuvring they contrived to meet on thedoorstepwhich was[…]in a boiling stream of passers-by, hurrying business people speeding past in a flurry of fumes and dust in the bright haze.

   • 1980,AA Book of British Villages,Drive Publications Ltd, page150:

     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 fromdoorsteptodoorstep.

2. (figuratively)One'simmediateneighbourhoodorlocality.

   They want to build the prison right on ourdoorstep;it will only be half a mile away and being that close scares me.

   • 1962May, G. Freeman Allen, “Traffic control on the Great Northern Line”, inModern Railways,page343:

     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'sdoorstep.

   • 2021November 17, Mark Rand, “Reconnecting rail freight to S&C quarries”, inRAIL,number944,page52:

     Milk from the Eden Valley could be on Londondoorstepsthe 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 itsdoorstep,much akin to the situation in Britain's coalfields.

3. (UK,informal)Athickslice,especially ofbread.
   • 2003,Diana Wynne Jones,The Merlin Conspiracy,P 241,→ISBN:

     I cut myself adoorstepof bread with masses of butter and went along to see Romanov while I was eating it.

Derived terms

• darken someone's doorstep
• doorstepper
• doorsteppy
• on death's doorstep
• on someone's doorstep
• sit on death's doorstep

Translations

threshold of a doorway

• Arabic:عَتَبَةُ الْبَابِf(ʕatabatu l-bābi)
• Bashkir:тупһа(tupha),буҫаға(buśağa)
• Belarusian:паро́гm(paróh)
• Bulgarian:праг(bg)m(prag)
• Catalan:llindar(ca)m,marxapeu(ca)m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Môn giai／Môn giai(zh)(ménjiē),Môn hạm／Môn hạm(zh)(ménkǎn)

• Czech:práh(cs)m
• Danish:dørtærskelc
• Esperanto:please add this translation if you can
• Finnish:kynnys(fi)
• French:seuil(fr)m
• Galician:limiar(gl)m,soarego(gl)m,soleira(gl)f
• German:Eingangsstufe(de)f,Türschwelle(de)f
• Greek:κατώφλι(el)n(katófli)
• Hungarian:küszöb(hu)
• Icelandic:dyraþrepn
• Irish:leac doraisf,tairseachf
• Japanese:Hộ khẩuのĐạp み đoạn(とぐちのふみだん, toguchi no fumidan)
• Latin:līmenn
• Macedonian:прагm(prag)
• Marathi:उंबरठा(mr)n(Umbartha)
• Ottoman Turkish:اشیك(eşik)
• Polish:próg(pl)m
• Portuguese:soleira(pt)f
• Russian:поро́г(ru)m(poróg)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:прагm

  Roman:prag(sh)m

• Slovak:prahm
• Slovene:prag(sl)m
• Spanish:umbral(es)m
• Swedish:tröskel(sv)c
• Thai:ธรณีประตู(th)(tɔɔ-rá-nii-bprà-dtuu)
• Tibetan:སྒོའི་ཐེམ(sgo'i them)
• Ukrainian:порі́гm(poríh)
• Welsh:rhiniogm,trothwym

thick slice of bread

• Bulgarian:дебела филияf(debela filija)
• Polish:pajda(pl)f,skiba(pl)f
• Portuguese:fationaf

Verb

doorstep(third-person singular simple presentdoorsteps,present participledoorstepping,simple past and past participledoorstepped)

1. (intransitive)To visit onehouseholdafter another tosolicitsales,charitabledonations,politicalsupport,etc.
2. (transitive,journalism)Tocornersomebody for an unexpectedinterview.
   • 1998,Emily O'Reilly,Veronica Guerin: The Life and Death of a Crime Reporter:

     Throughout her time in journalism, shedoorsteppedpoliticians, the child of a politician, crime victims, armed robbers, murderers, suspected murderers...

   • 2006,Denis O'Hearn,Nothing But an Unfinished Song:

     Surprisingly few people refused to talk, even those Idoorsteppedor telephoned out of the blue.

See also

• ambush journalism

Anagrams

• droopest,optrodes,pet doors,torpedos

Danish

Noun

doorstep

1. (journalism)A short and informal press briefing

   Statsministeren holder doorstep i Statsministeriet.

   The Prime Minister is holding an informal press briefing at the Prime Minister's Office.