DCHP-2

back lane DCHP-2 (May 2016)

• n.

  a lane that runs behind the buildings of a street; back alley.

  Type: 2. Preservation — Back lane appears to be a preservation from BrE, and appears in the London Times as early as 1785 (see first quotation). Back lane is used in many former British colonies, with a much lower frequency in the US (see Chart 1).
  See also COD-2, which lists the term as a "Cdn & Brit." variant of "N. Amer." back alley, OED-3, s.v. "back adj." (I.1.c), with a London Times quotation from 1842 in that particular meaning.