Definition of "backstairs" in English

noun

1. A staircase at the rear of a building or one normally only used by servants and tradesmen.

   • 1905, Ernest William Hornung, “The Spoils of Sacrilege” in A Thief in the Night, Other feet were already in the lower flight of the backstairs; but the upper flight was the one for me, and in an instant we were racing along the upper corridor […]

2. An indirect or furtive means of access or intercourse.

adjective

1. Secret or furtive.

2. Scandalous.