[dawr-stop, dohr-] 
| 1. | a device for holding a door open, as a wedge or small weight. |
| 2. | Also called slamming stile, stop. (in a doorframe) a strip or projecting surface against which the door closes. |
| 3. | a device for preventing a door from striking a wall or an object on a wall, as a small rubber-covered projection. |
| door·stop (dôr'stŏp', dōr'-) n.
|
doorstop
Used to describe equipment that is non-functional and halfway expected to remain so, especially obsolete equipment kept around for political reasons or ostensibly as a backup. "When we get another Wyse-50 in here, that ADM 3 will turn into a doorstop."
Compare boat anchor.
[The Jargon File]
doorstop
usually decorative and invariably heavy object used to prevent doors from swinging shut. Doorstops came into use about 1775 following the introduction of the rising butt, a type of hinge designed to close a door automatically. Many stops took the form of famous persons, such as Napoleon, Shakespeare, Wellington, Gladstone, and Disraeli. Animal forms were also popular
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