Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
dictionary thesaurus view recents

stairwell

noun
Save Word
stair·​well | \ ˈster-ˌwel How to pronounce stairwell (audio) \

Definition of stairwell

: a vertical shaft in which stairs are located

Examples of stairwell in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Recently a new acquaintance stopped me in a stairwell. — Alex Marzano-lesnevich, Harper's magazine, "Body Language," 25 Nov. 2019 More often, however, neighbors saw Mr. Santos sleeping in the stairwell of his mother’s building. — New York Times, "Punches, Rages: Before Chinatown Killings, Suspect Grew Ever More Violent," 8 Oct. 2019 Hakeem Malcom, 25, of the 6400 block of 18th Street, Berwyn, received a local ordinance citation for possession of cannabis July 29 after someone spotted him smoking in the stairwell of a building in the 7300 block of Grand Avenue, police said. — Deborah Kadin, chicagotribune.com, "Elmwood Park police: someone shot into home, loaded gun in vehicle’s back seat, domestic violence, St. Francis statue stolen," 20 Aug. 2019 Brooke was not prepared for my response; neither was I. * * * Dan Dixon Tempest hung himself on July 27, 2018, in the stairwell of his apartment building. — Longreads, "A Beautiful, Rugged Place: Erosion of the Body," 7 June 2018 Roaming gangs of teenagers who harass passersby in shadowy stairwells. — Hannah Natanson, Washington Post, "‘It’s a blight’: After years of complaints, Metro will make fixes and install cameras at Wheaton station garage," 21 Sep. 2019 School spokeswoman Nichole Shearer said the swastika that was a few inches big and was found Aug. 23 in the 17th-floor stairwell of Wolf Pack Tower at Circus Circus. — USA TODAY, "Rare elephant calf, two-headed rattlesnake, another quake off Oregon: News from around our 50 states," 6 Sep. 2019 Alcoves and stone stairwells added authenticity, the kind of place where scum and villainy — and tourists — would lurk about. — BostonGlobe.com, "I recently had an early look at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Orlando. Here are five interstellar takeaways.," 13 Sep. 2019 Last spring, the home still sat abandoned in a thicket of trees, its wooden stairwell rotting, its blue and green paint blistered. — Azam Ahmed, New York Times, "One Handgun, 9 Murders: How American Firearms Cause Carnage Abroad," 25 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stairwell.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

See More

First Known Use of stairwell

1920, in the meaning defined above

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about stairwell

Time Traveler for stairwell

Time Traveler

The first known use of stairwell was in 1920

See more words from the same year

Statistics for stairwell

Last Updated

7 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Stairwell.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stairwell. Accessed 7 December 2019.

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for stairwell

stairwell

noun
How to pronounce stairwell (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of stairwell

: a space in a building where stairs are located

See the full definition for stairwell in the English Language Learners Dictionary

Keep scrolling for more

More from Merriam-Webster on stairwell

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with stairwell

Spanish Central: Translation of stairwell

Nglish: Translation of stairwell for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of stairwell for Arabic Speakers

Comments on stairwell

What made you want to look up stairwell? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Show Comments  Hide Comments 

WORD OF THE DAY

vexillology

Listen to the pronounciation of vexillology

the study of flags

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Semantic Drift Quiz

  • a twisty river
  • Which of the following was once a synonym for fun?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Bee Cubed

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games