motorway

noun

mo·​tor·​way ˈmō-tər-ˌwā How to pronounce motorway (audio)
chiefly British

Examples of motorway in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Long trips with the family to southern Spain or Italy for the summer holidays using fast motorways are no problems for an internal combustion engine (ICE). Neil Winton, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2023 Not far out of the city, before hitting the motorway, Frank would have pulled over at a service station, filled up with fuel, bought a newspaper, tea, a breakfast roll, and a bar of chocolate. Mary Costello, The New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2023 In Utrecht, in the Netherlands, a 12-lane motorway was replaced with canals and green space, restoring the original waterways that had been paved over years ago for roads. Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2023 Ayub plays Adam, who works night shifts at a motorway service station and lives a lonely life. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 2 Sep. 2023 The boss of the U.K.’s most extensive motorway services provider has warned of the challenge ahead for grid capacity as more and more British motorists switch to electric vehicles. Carlton Reid, Forbes, 26 Jan. 2023 Just Stop Oil caused huge disruption with supporters climbing motorway gantries on the M25 and the QEII Bridge in Dartford, Kent, as well as blocking main roads in London. Press Association, Bloomberg.com, 5 Feb. 2023 At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, hackers tweaked charging stations along the Moscow–Saint Petersburg motorway in Russia to greet users with anti-Putin messages. Tik Root, WIRED, 5 July 2023 Because traffic can be so excessive, the company that manages Italy's motorways rolled out an alternating license plate system for rental cars traveling the stretch between Positano and Vietri sul Mare. Julia Buckley, Travel + Leisure, 21 June 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'motorway.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1897, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of motorway was in 1897

Dictionary Entries Near motorway

Cite this Entry

“Motorway.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/motorway. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!