Douglas Coupland

I've got all my old laptops going back to my first, which was so fancy at the time, in '93 or '94, but now it's just like a doorstop. One day I said, 'I'll go in and get all my old documents in there.' The cords and the wires are all gone, the discettes you need are gone. Meanwhile the little electrons are starting to wither away.

Canadian Author

Hugh Hardy

Please, don't use a cornice as a doorstop. At least put it somewhere where people will have to look up at it. Architectural details really ought to be displayed in the same relation to the viewer as they were originally intended.

American Architect

Laura van den Berg

We write in a culture that favors the heft of the novel. Better still if the novel in question is large enough to be wielded interchangeably as a doorstop and a weapon.

American Writer

Alfred Hitchcock

The paperback is very interesting but I find it will never replace the hardcover book - it makes a very poor doorstop.

English Director

This paperback is very interesting, but I find it will never replace a hardcover book - it makes a very poor doorstop.

Jack Nance

I say that I played a doorstop in Dune because I remember standing around a lot. I was down there for months.

American Actor

A doorstop refers to any physical item used to keep a door open or shut.

Physical Object

Often practical and functional, a doorstop is chosen for its ability to perform its job rather than appearance.

Functional Use

Doorstops can vary in shape, not just wedges; some may be decorative statues.

Not Just Wedges

Calling a book a doorstop exaggerates its size humorously, implying it's very large or dense.

Humorous Hyperbole

Using 'doorstop' for a book can subtly suggest it's not very readable or interesting.

Slight Disparagement

When referring to books, 'doorstop' is not literal; it's metaphorical and suggests the book's heavy weight.

Not Literal

 I made a minor observation. In a clinic, in a far, remote area, I saw a centrifuge being used as a doorstop. I mean -- quite literally, the doorstop. And I asked them and they said, "Oh, we don't actually have electricity,