street

/strit/
/strit/
IPA guide

Other forms: streets

A street is a paved road with houses or buildings along the side. Cars, buses, bikes, and motorcycles travel in the street, while pedestrians use the sidewalk.

The street is what you drive a car on, but the word can also refer more generally to the neighborhood around the street, as in street theater or street fashion. And it can also mean a slightly dangerous, crime-filled environment: "It's rough out there on the street." In Old English, the word was stret, from the Late Latin phrase via strata or "paved road."

Definitions of street
  1. noun
    a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings
    “they walked the streets of the small town”
    “he lives on Nassau Street”
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    examples:
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    Fleet Street
    a street in central London where newspaper offices are situated
    Harley Street
    a street in central London where the consulting rooms of many physicians and surgeons are located
    Lombard Street
    a street in central London containing many of the major London banks
    Whitehall
    a wide street in London stretching from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament; site of many government offices
    Strand
    a street in west central London famous for its theaters and hotels
    Downing Street
    a street of Westminster in London
    Pall Mall
    a fashionable street in London noted for its many private clubs
    Quai d'Orsay
    the street in Paris along the south bank of the Seine known for its governmental ministries
    Champs Elysees
    a major avenue in Paris famous for elegant shops and cafes
    Bowery
    a street in Manhattan noted for cheap hotels frequented by homeless derelicts
    Great White Way
    a street in Manhattan that passes through Times Square; famous for its theaters
    Park Avenue
    a fashionable residential street in New York City
    Wall Street
    a street in lower Manhattan where the New York Stock Exchange is located; symbol of American finance
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    alley, alleyway, back street
    a narrow street with walls on both sides
    avenue, boulevard
    a wide street or thoroughfare
    cross street
    a street intersecting a main street (usually at right angles) and continuing on both sides of it
    local road, local street
    a street that is primarily used to gain access to the property bordering it
    high street, main street
    street that serves as a principal thoroughfare for traffic in a town
    mews
    street lined with buildings that were originally private stables but have been remodeled as dwellings
    rue
    (French) a street or road in France
    side street
    a street intersecting a main street and terminating there
    frontage road, service road
    a local road that runs parallel to an expressway and allows local traffic to gain access to property
    main drag
    the main street of a town or city
    type of:
    thoroughfare
    a public road from one place to another
  2. noun
    the part of a thoroughfare between the sidewalks; the part of the thoroughfare on which vehicles travel
    “be careful crossing the street”
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    types:
    one-way street
    a street on which vehicular traffic is allowed to move in only one direction
    two-way street
    a street on which vehicular traffic can move in either of two directions
    type of:
    thoroughfare
    a public road from one place to another
  3. noun
    people living or working on the same street
    “the whole street protested the absence of street lights”
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    type of:
    neighborhood, neighbourhood
    people living near one another
  4. noun
    the streets of a city viewed as a depressed environment in which there is poverty and crime and prostitution and dereliction
    “she tried to keep her children off the street”
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    type of:
    environment
    the totality of surrounding conditions
  5. noun
    a situation offering opportunities
    “he worked both sides of the street”
    “cooperation is a two-way street”
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    type of:
    chance, opportunity
    a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances
Pronunciation
US
/strit/
UK
/strit/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘street'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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