door-to-door

[dawr-tuh-dawr, dohr-tuh-dohr]

adjective

1. calling, selling, canvassing, etc., at each house or apartment in an area, town, or the like.

   a door-to-door poll.

2. sent direct from the point of pickup to the point of delivery, as a shipment or order of merchandise.

3. covering the complete route of a door-to-door shipment, delivery, etc..

   door-to-door carrying charges; door-to-door insurance.

adverb

1. in a door-to-door manner.

door to door

adjective

1. (of selling, canvassing, etc) from one house to the next

2. (of journeys, deliveries, etc) direct

Word History and Origins

Origin of door to door¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Idioms and Phrases

Calling at each house, apartment, store, etc. in an area, in order to deliver, sell, or ask for something. For example, We were asked to go door to door to collect enough signatures . [c. 1900]

Sent from a place of origin or pickup to a place of delivery. For example, They quoted me a price for door to door, as well as a lower one if I would pick up the goods myself . This usage is nearly always applied to a shipment of merchandise.

Example Sentences

Her family didn’t have a lot of money so she went door to door selling grapefruit to buy new magic tricks from Bert Easley’s Fun Shop.

From Los Angeles Times

Aaby’s team then went door to door providing measles vaccinations, and a few years later he received a follow-up report, describing what happened to children who had been involved in the study and subsequent ones carried out in rural areas.

From Salon

The evacuation in the Old Town and Deutz neighbourhoods began with officials going door to door to tell people they must leave their homes.

From BBC

Saturday, multiple law enforcement agencies had descended on the neighborhood and were going door to door around the area.

From Los Angeles Times

Armed with a stack of handmade business cards, I went door to door in our suburban Chicago cul-de-sac, pitching the neighbors: “Would you like fresh-baked cookies delivered to your doorstep every Saturday morning?”

From Salon