A wedge, block, or other object used to hold a door open or prevent it from swinging closed.
From 'door' + 'stop' (from Old English 'stoppian' meaning to plug or block, from Proto-Germanic roots). This compound describes something that stops a door from moving.
Doorstops have inspired incredible design—from Victorian cast-iron ones shaped like animals and figures, to modern magnetic holds—and they reveal what cultures valued: Victorians wanted ornamental doorstops that doubled as garden statuary!
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