What does doored mean?
'Doored' is the past tense and past participle of the verb 'to door', a relatively modern English formation meaning to strike or nearly strike someone with an opening vehicle door. The word is used almost exclusively in the passive voice — a cyclist 'was doored' — and belongs chiefly to the vocabulary of cycling, road safety, and urban planning, where 'dooring' collisions are a recognized hazard that has prompted design responses like protected bike lanes and the Dutch Reach technique. A secondary, older adjectival use appears mainly within compounds such as 'double-doored', describing something fitted with doors. Informal in register but precise in meaning, the word captures a specific kind of street accident that more general verbs like 'hit' fail to convey, which has helped it persist despite its narrow scope.
Simple past tense and past participle of 'door': to strike or obstruct (someone, typically a cyclist) with an opening car door.
"She was doored while riding past a line of parked cars."
Overwhelmingly used in the passive voice.
Having a specified number or type of doors, occurring chiefly in compounds such as 'double-doored'.
"A wide, double-doored entrance led into the ballroom."
Cyclists don't just get hit by cars — they can be 'doored', a collision so routine that urban planners now design buffer zones against it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of doored
The verb 'to door' derives straightforwardly from the noun 'door', which comes from Old English 'dur(u)' and shares a distant Germanic root with related words such as German 'Tür' and 'Tor', both traceable to Proto-Indo-European *dhwer-. The verbal use meaning 'to strike with a door' arose naturally once cars with hinged doors became widespread in the twentieth century, especially in North American cycling parlance. Cognates sharing the ancient root include 'threshold' and, via Latin 'porta' and Greek 'pylē' lines of development, words like 'portal'.
Related word forms
How doored is actually used
Primarily informal and strongly associated with cycling communities and traffic-safety reporting. The passive construction ('was doored') is by far the most common usage. The adjectival sense survives mostly inside compound forms such as 'double-doored'.
Easily confused with doored
'Floored' means knocked to the ground or astonished; 'doored' specifically means struck by an opened vehicle door.