back alley

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Bickerstaff was referring to a time-honored tradition of Detroit basketball: Turning a hard court ballet into a back-alley brawl.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

In this country, before abortion was legal, women went to both reputable doctors and back-alley quacks to get care.

From Slate • Nov. 7, 2023

Then, they “accidentally” send money to hundreds or thousands of people at once, whose phone numbers were similarly acquired in some back-alley of the internet.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 6, 2022

They loved the supreme crispiness surrounding divine meatiness they encountered at the best back-alley katsu places in Japan — where, as with ramen, katsu is taken to the level of a comfort-food art form.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 14, 2022

After the pathetic back-alley drama, I headed to Burton’s pharmacy, which had been the real purpose of the trip downtown.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx