terraces

Noun

terrace (plural terraces)

1. A flat open area on the topmost floor of a building or apartment
   • On a broad ledge near the top, we found a stone cabin. Higher up was a cistern and a few more terraces.1989, Octavia E. Butler, “Part III, Chapter 7”, in Imago, page 211
2. A platform that extends outwards from a building.
   • They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.1909 September 9, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 9
3. A raised, flat-topped bank of earth with sloping sides, especially one of a series for farming or leisure; a similar natural area of ground, often next to a river.
   • All the buildings were well kept and there were terraces everywhere, most of them full of growing things.1989, Octavia E. Butler, “Part III, Chapter 7”, in Imago, page 210
4. A step-like landform; (sometimes) remnants of floodplains.
5. A row of residential houses with no gaps between them; a group of row houses.
6. A street with such a group of houses in it.

See all 14 meanings of terrace