at doorstep

at (one's) doorstep

1. Literally, outside one's door. I'm at your doorstep right now—where are you? The emails says that the driver left the package at our doorstep, but there's nothing here. Who's at my doorstep this early in the morning? Good grief.

2. By extension, one's responsibility. That issue is at the police commissioner's doorstep now. I always hire reputable contractors for my company because I don't want complaints of shoddy construction at my doorstep. Now that you're the mayor, the city's crime issues are at your doorstep.

3. Very close to one's location, especially of an unwanted thing that is encroaching. We used to think of it as a skirmish on the frontier, but the war is now at our doorstep. This whole area used to be rural, but with rampant development, the suburbs are at our doorstep. You need to get to the basement—that tornado is practically at your doorstep!

See also: doorstep

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

at someone's doorstep

 and on someone's doorstep

Fig. in someone's care; as someone's responsibility. Why do you always have to lay your problems at my doorstep? I shall put this issue on someone else's doorstep. I don't want that problem on my doorstep.

See also: doorstep

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.