stairwell

noun

stair·​well ˈster-ˌwel How to pronounce stairwell (audio)
: a vertical shaft in which stairs are located

Examples of stairwell in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The agency released images of a person of interest on Thursday, showing an individual wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses in a stairwell, and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Doc Louallen, ABC News, 11 Sep. 2025 The images show a man in a stairwell wearing a black long sleave shirt with an American flag, jeans, sunglasses and a dark hat. Joey Garrison, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025 Aita suffered stab wounds to the abdomen, back, face and neck and collapsed in a stairwell; his girlfriend underwent surgery and is being held under guard at the hospital. Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2025 Israeli forces struck that same stairwell minutes later again, killing medics, first responders and four more journalists working for international media, including the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. Aya Batrawy, NPR, 1 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for stairwell

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of stairwell was in 1920

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Stairwell.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stairwell. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

stairwell

noun
stair·​well -ˌwel How to pronounce stairwell (audio)
: a vertical shaft in which stairs are located

More from Merriam-Webster on stairwell

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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