highway
Other forms: highways
A highway is a busy road with many lanes. Highways are usually the quickest route for driving between one city and another.
Highways were originally built to connect cities and towns, and since they're wide and have high speed limits, they decreased the travel time. Highways are always considered public land, and they're usually maintained by the individual state. The Old English precursor was heahweg, "main street" or "main way." The word high has often been used to mean "main" or "major," especially when describing a street.
Definitions of highway
-
a major road for any form of motor transport
-
synonyms:
main road
-
examples:
-
Appian Way
an ancient Roman road in Italy extending south from Rome to Brindisi; begun in 312 BC
-
Flaminian Way
an ancient Roman road in Italy built by Gaius Flaminius in 220 BC; extends north from Rome to cisalpine Gaul
-
types:
- show 9 types...
- hide 9 types...
-
arterial road
a major or main route
-
beltway, bypass, ring road, ringway
a highway that encircles an urban area so that traffic does not have to pass through the center
-
divided highway, dual carriageway
a highway divided down the middle by a barrier that separates traffic going in different directions
-
expressway, freeway, motorway, pike, state highway, superhighway, throughway, thruway
a broad highway designed for high-speed traffic
-
highroad, trunk road
a highway
-
interstate, interstate highway
one of the system of highways linking major cities in the 48 contiguous states of the United States
-
autobahn
an expressway in a German-speaking country
-
autostrada
an expressway in an Italian-speaking country
-
toll road, turnpike
an expressway on which tolls are collected
-
Appian Way
Pronunciation
US
/ˌhaɪˈweɪ/
UK
/ˈhaɪweɪ/
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Copy citation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘highway'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
Send us feedback
Word Family
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Look up highway for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
