What does "door" mean?

1. (physical entrance) the moving panel you open and close to enter or leave a room, building, or car. 2. (entry point) a place where you enter a building or a specific house. 3. (figurative access) a way to get something or reach a goal. 4. (ticket sales) the money collected from people paying to enter a show or club. 5. (to hit a cyclist with a car door) to open a car door suddenly and cause a cyclist to crash into it.

door — meaning, definition & examples

Word

01physical entrance

A1 · Beginner Countable noun

n. the moving panel you open and close to enter or leave a room, building, or car.

n. a movable barrier used to close off an entrance, typically consisting of a rigid panel that swings on hinges or slides in a groove.

“Please remember to lock the front door when you leave the house.”

“The heavy oak door swung open on silent hinges, revealing a dimly lit hallway lined with portraits of the estate's former owners.”

Synonyms

entrance portal gate

02entry point

A1 · Beginner Countable noun

n. a place where you enter a building or a specific house.

n. a point of entry or a building identified by its entrance, often used in phrases like 'next door'.

“He lives just two doors down from the local grocery store.”

“The delivery driver was instructed to leave the package at the side door if no one answered the main bell.”

Synonyms

entrywaythreshold

03figurative access

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun

n. a way to get something or reach a goal.

n. a figurative means of approach, access, or opportunity.

“This internship could open the door to a great career in fashion.”

“The new trade agreement opened the door for small businesses to export their products to international markets for the first time.”

Synonyms

opportunity gateway pathway

04ticket sales

C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Informal

n. the money collected from people paying to enter a show or club.

n. the total proceeds from entrance fees or ticket sales at a venue, often used to determine performer pay.

“The band gets half of the money from the door tonight.”

“Despite the heavy rain, the door was surprisingly good, allowing the venue to cover the headliner's guarantee without dipping into bar profits.”

Synonyms

gate takings receipts

05to hit a cyclist with a car door

C1 · Advanced Informal

v. to open a car door suddenly and cause a cyclist to crash into it.

v. to cause a collision by opening a vehicle door into the path of an oncoming cyclist.

“He was badly injured when a driver doored him on a busy street.”

“The city launched a safety campaign to prevent cyclists from being doored by distracted passengers exiting taxis.”

Usage

The verb is transitive and often used in the passive voice.

“The recall remedies range from software updates to warning labels and improved markings around door handles.”

Reuters 23 Aug 2026

“Popularized by Tesla, the door handles are designed to sit flush to the body of the door, for a minimalist look that also reduces aerodynamic drag.”

Reuters 21 Aug 2026

“The petition covered about 180,000 model-year 2022 Tesla Model 3 vehicles and alleged the manual door release was difficult to locate after a crash if the vehicle lost power, increasing the risk of occupants getting trapped.”

Reuters 24 Jul 2026

“China's industry ministry said on Monday that under its new safety technical requirements, every car door should be equipped with both exterior and interior handles.”

Reuters 3 Feb 2026

From Middle English dore, dor, from Old English duru (“door”), dor (“gate”), from Proto-West Germanic dur, from Proto-Germanic durz, from Proto-Indo-European dʰwṓr, from dʰwer- (“doorway, door, gate”). Cognates Cognate with Scots door (“door”), Saterland Frisian Doore (“door”), West Frisian doar (“door”), Dutch deur (“door”), German Low German Door, Döör (“door”), German Tür (“door”), Tor (“gate”), Danish, Norn, and Norwegian dør (“door”), Faroese and Icelandic dyr (“door”), Asturian, Aragonese, and Spanish fuera (“outside”), Catalan, Leonese, and Portuguese fora (“outside”), French hors (“outside”), Galician fóra (“outside”), Italian fuori (“outside”), Mirandese fuora (“outside”), Latin foris and foras (“outside”), Ancient Greek θύρα (thúra), Albanian derë (“door”), Central Kurdish دەرگە (derge, “door”), Northern Kurdish derî (“door”), Persian در (dar, “door”), Belarusian дзве́ры (dzvjéry, “door”), Bulgarian две́ри (dvéri, “royal doors”), Czech dveře (“door”), Latvian durvis (“door”), Lithuanian durys (“door”), Macedonian двер (dver, “door”), Polish drzwi (“door”), Russian дверь (dverʹ), Serbo-Croatian dvȇri (“door”), dvar (“door”), Ukrainian две́рі (dvéri, “door”), Hindi द्वार (dvār, “door”), Armenian դուռ (duṙ, “door”), Irish doras (“door”), Sanskrit द्वार (dvāra, “door”). Despite similarities in spelling, not cognate with Dutch door, which is instead cognate with English through.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

NOUN

door(A1)

ADJECTIVE