road

noun

ˈrōd How to pronounce road (audio)
Definition of roadnext
1
as in highway
a passage cleared for public vehicular travel I think we should take one of the less congested roads

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in railroad
a roadway overlaid with parallel steel rails over which trains travel the railway companies are continually repairing their roads

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of road The buildings on either side of the restaurant have been rebuilt, and there is now a new road to its north. — Jonathan Flint, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026 With nearly four decades of dues paid, Tommy Davidson remains optimistic about the road ahead. — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 1 Sep. 2026 Videos of the immigration center taken the same morning show devastation as flood waters crashed into building and swept away people and roads. — Irene Wright, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026 The next generation On the banks of the Central Arizona Project canal in Phoenix, city water manager Max Wilson stood on a gravel road above the steady amble of blue-green water. — Alex Hager, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for road
Recent Examples of Synonyms for road
  1. highway
  2. railroad
  3. street
  4. railway
  5. thoroughfare
  6. freeway
  7. route
  8. expressway
Noun
  • While crews were at the scene, a separate crash occurred on the eastbound side of the highway when a driver slowed down to look at the wreck, according to Peck.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Minneapolis has long been a civic-minded metropolis, where even the choice of vegetation on highway medians can become the subject of extended public debate, in a state with a history of protest going back to the nineteenth century.
    — Emily Witt, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of highway
Noun
  • Phineas Gage, an American railroad construction foreman, suffered a traumatic brain injury when an iron rod was driven through his head, destroying much of his brain’s left frontal lobe.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026
  • They were arranged as spectacles for tourists by railroad companies.
    — Caitlín Doherty, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of railroad
Noun
  • An Arkansas State Police trooper was captured on dashcam footage yanking the passenger of a vehicle by his hair and punching him in the face after a high-speed chase that ended in the streets of Blytheville.
    — Daniel McFadin, Arkansas Online, 31 Aug. 2026
  • There’s no denying that the fall 2026 runways made a strong case for color; even the street style scene is on board, slipping into colorful shoes and sporting handbags in a variety of vibrant shades—baby pink, chartreuse, and cobalt.
    — Laura Jackson, Vogue, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of street
Noun
  • Russia pounded Kyiv for more than 12 hours in a sixth straight night of attacks, killing at least 12 people including six railway workers and an Indian citizen, and devastating civilian districts.
    — Samya Kullab, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Serbia has experienced its largest wave of student protests and civil unrest in decades since the collapse of a railway station canopy killed 16 people in November 2024.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of railway
Noun
  • The partnership between two outsiders clawing their way in, joined by an equally canny journalist played by Claire Foy, comes to shape Fleet Street, the London thoroughfare where scribblers plied their trade, in Lamb’s and Murdoch’s images.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Kitchens were structured for high throughput and delivery vehicles lined up on the other side of the building to take finished meals and speed them along critical thoroughfares for timely and low-cost delivery.
    — George C. Lee II, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of thoroughfare
Noun
  • Bikes are not allowed to on freeways or expressways, and cyclists cannot pass through tolls unless the signs nearby dictate otherwise.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 31 Aug. 2026
  • In the city today, the Salt River is mostly reduced to a wide, dusty trough that passes unceremoniously under freeway bridges.
    — Alex Hager, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of freeway
Noun
  • That could offer shipowners another route toward lower fuel use and emissions.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Avelo Airlines is extending its flight schedule at Concord-Padgett Regional Airport after announcing five new routes this year.
    — DJ Simmons, Charlotte Observer, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of route
Noun
  • The driver is also alleged to have made a U-turn from a through lane after exiting the expressway, according to the affidavit.
    — Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Directed by Takahiro Hasui, the latest installment in the franchise tracks Conan Edogawa investigating high-speed vehicular sabotage on an expressway network.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of expressway

Phrases Containing road

Browse Nearby Words

roaches
road
roadblock
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Cite this Entry

“Road.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/road. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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