Dorothy door

noun

A single door, or one of a pair of doors, which (when closed) is not vertical but instead lies at an angle close to horizontal, which leads into a basement or cellar.

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Meanings

nounDorothy door (plural Dorothy doors)

plural Dorothy doors

  1. plural normallyA single door, or one of a pair of doors, which (when closed) is not vertical but instead lies at an angle close to horizontal, which leads into a basement or cellar.

Origin

In the film The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy's family (though not Dorothy) flees through such a door to shelter in a cellar while a tornado passes.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Dorothy door. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dorothy%20door

MLA

“Dorothy door.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dorothy%20door. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Dorothy door,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Dorothy%20door.

Source: Dorothy door on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.