open door
Preserved but no longer current.
In political parlance the prin- ciple of admitting all nations to a share in a country's trade, etc. The phrase is also applied to any loophole being left for the possibility of negotiation between contending parties, nations, etc.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “open door” mean?
In political parlance the prin- ciple of admitting all nations to a share in a country's trade, etc. The phrase is also applied to any loophole being left for the possibility of negotiation between contending parties, nations, etc.
Is “open door” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.