Word.ws English Dictionary

road

More pronunciations (2)Fewer pronunciations

South Asia/ɾoːɖ/Scotland/rod/

road noun: a way used for travelling between places, originally one wide enough to allow foot passengers and horses to travel, now (US) usually one surfaced with asphalt or concrete and designed to accommodate many vehicles travelling in both directions. In the UK both senses are heard: a country road is the same as a country lane.

road: a way used for travelling between places, originally one wide enough to allow foot passengers and...
Image: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

road (plural roads)

  1. A way used for travelling between places, originally one wide enough to allow foot passengers and horses to travel, now (US) usually one surfaced with asphalt or concrete and designed to accommodate many vehicles travelling in both directions. In the UK both senses are heard: a country road is the same as a country lane.
    • In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road.1852, Mrs M.A. Thompson, “The Tutor's Daughter”, in Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature, Art, and Fashion, page 266
    • I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
  2. (uncountable) Roads in general as a means of travel, especially by motor vehicle.
    • We travelled to the seaside by road.
    • This car really hugs the road.
  3. (dated) A physical way or route.
    • He stirred up his hair with his sprightliest expression, glanced at the little figure again, said ‘Good evening, ma ‘am; don’t come down, Mrs Affery, I know the road to the door,’ and steamed out.1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC
    • Hetty and Mrs. Piper watched them with a lynx-eyed understanding and before the ancient was well upon his road his way was blocked by Hetty.1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 131
  4. (figuratively) A path chosen, as in life or career.
    • the road to happiness; the road to success.
    • Where, then, is the road to peace?1964, Ronald Reagan, A Time for Choosing
  5. An underground tunnel in a mine.
  6. (US, archaic) A railroad.
    • [in 1846 or 1847, Davis K. Carter said,] ["]I have come to deal in practical matters, and to serve notice on you, gentlemen, that we out west, comprising the backbone, not only of Ohio but of the western continent, mean business. A road is to be built from this city [Pittsburgh], through Massillon...1926 [1847], Bessie V. R. Skinner, quoting Davis K. Carter, Massillon, Once Upon a Time, Independent Publishing Company, page 27
  7. (UK, US) A single railroad track (railway track).
    • The new depot, on which work started in May, 1956, has three reception roads leading to 13 sidings capable of taking 25 trains, a 450 ft.-long car examination shed with nine roads, a lifting shop with two roads and three permanent way sidings.1959 November, “L.T. and E.R. developments in East London”, in Trains Illustrated, page 527
  8. (obsolete) The act of riding on horseback.
  9. (obsolete) A hostile ride against a particular area; a raid.
  10. (plural-normally) A partly sheltered area of water near a shore in which vessels may ride at anchor; a roadstead.
    • Antonio: Sweet lady, you have given me life and living; / For here I read for certain that my ships / Are safely come to road.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • There delivering their fraught, they went to Scandaroone; rather to view what ships was in the Roade, than any thing else […].1630, John Smith, True Travels, Kupperman, published 1988, page 38
  11. (obsolete) A journey, or stage of a journey.
    • At last, with easy roads, he came to Leicester; / Lodg'd in the abbey, where the reverend abbot, / With all his convent, honourably receiv'd him; […]1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
  12. A hard, flat pitch, typically favourable for batters.

Adjective

road (not comparable)

  1. (Canada, US, attributive) At the venue of the opposing team or competitor; on the road.
    Synonyms:
    away
  2. Of or pertaining to a road bike.
    • road tires
    • road groupset

road meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

road in Hindi

a way for travel
सड़क saṛak, रास्ता rāstā, मार्ग mārg, पथ path
a path in life
रास्ता rāstā

road in Tamil

a way for travel
சாலை cālai, தெரு teru, ரோடு rōṭu
way or route
சாலை cālai

road in Marathi

a way for travel
रस्ता rastā

road in Urdu

a way for travel
سَڑَک saṛak, راسْتَہ rāsta, جادَہ jāda
More languagesFewer languages
road in Bengali
রাস্তা rasta, সড়ক śoṛok, পথ pôth
road in Telugu
రహదారి rahadāri, రోడ్డు rōḍḍu
road in Malayalam
റോഡ് ṟōḍŭ
road in Kannada
ರಸ್ತೆ raste
road in Punjabi
ਸੜਕ saṛak, ਰਸਤਾ rastā
road in Gujarati
માર્ગ mārg
road in Odia
ରାସ୍ତା rāstā
road in Sanskrit
मार्ग mārga, पथ patha
road in Sinhala
පාර pāra
road in Assamese
বাট bat, আলি ali, ৰাস্তা rasta
road in Nepali
सडक saḍak
road in Pashto
واټ wāṭṭ
road in Tagalog
daan, kalsada, kalye
road in Arabic
طَرِيق ṭarīq, سِكَّة sikka
road in Malay
jalan
road in Indonesian
jalan
road in Thai
ถนน tà-nǒn, ทาง taang, หนทาง hǒn-taang
road in Vietnamese
đường, đường bộ
road in Myanmar
လမ်း lam:

Examples of road in a sentence

  • “Dum de dum, dum de dum”, he hummed as he sauntered down the road.
  • Since this was rebel country, checkpoints were set up along the road.
  • I wrecked my car after a deer ran across the road.

All 40 example sentences with road

Synonyms of road

All synonyms of road

Forms of road

pluralroads
alternative form (obsolete)rade

Plural of road: roads

Origin of road

From Middle English rode, rade (“ride, journey”), from Old English rād (“riding, hostile incursion”), from Proto-West Germanic *raidu, from Proto-Germanic *raidō (“a ride”), from Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ- (“to ride”). Doublet of raid, acquired from Scots. Cognates include West Frisian reed (paved trail/road, driveway). The current primary meaning of "street, way for traveling" originated relatively late — Shakespeare seemed to expect his audiences to find it unfamiliar — and probably arose through reinterpretation of roadway (“a way for riding on”) as saying way twice, in other words as a tautological compound.

Words formed from road

Phrases with road

157 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with road

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about road

What does road mean?
Road means a way used for travelling between places, originally one wide enough to allow foot passengers and horses to travel, now (US) usually one surfaced with asphalt or concrete and designed to accommodate many vehicles travelling in both directions. In the UK both senses are heard: a country road is the same as a country lane.
What is road in Hindi?
Road in Hindi is सड़क (saṛak), रास्ता (rāstā), मार्ग (mārg). See Road meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is road?
Road can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce road?
Road is pronounced /ɾoːɖ/ (South Asia).
What is the plural of road?
The plural of road is roads.

Words near road in the dictionary

  1. roaching out
  2. roachless
  3. roachlike
  4. Roachs
  5. roachy
  6. road
  7. road accident
  8. road accidents
  9. road agent
  10. road agents
  11. road apple

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: road (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-a road.ogg, en-us-road.ogg.

Cite this entry: “road.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/road. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.