death door

Meaning

Noun

• a door to the outside from the parlor or hall to allow for the movement of the dead; from the time when the wealthy would host their wakes and funerals in their own homes. It is a supplementary door to the main doors of the home, unconnected from exterior stairs or walkways. The death door existed to allow for the dead to move through doors without needing to use the doorways used by the living.

Origin

• death + door from being a door used for the dead