alley

1 of 2

noun (1)

al·​ley ˈa-lē 

plural alleys

1

: a garden or park walk bordered by trees or bushes

2

a(1)

: a grassed enclosure for bowling or skittles

(2)

: a hardwood lane for bowling

also : a room or building housing a group of such lanes

b

: the space on each side of a tennis doubles court between the sideline and the service sideline

c

: an area in a baseball outfield between two outfielders when they are in normal positions

hit a line drive into the alley

3

: a narrow street

especially : a thoroughfare through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots or buildings

4

: an extensive region where destructive natural phenomena of a specified type (such as tornadoes) occur often or are likely to occur

The most obvious tornado alley extends from the plains of northwest Texas eastward into north Texas and then northward across Oklahoma, Kansas, and eastern Nebraska.

—Tom Konvicka

alley

2 of 2

noun (2)

plural alleys

: a playing marble

especially : one of superior quality

Phrases

up one's alley or less commonly down one's alley

: suited to one's own tastes or abilities

a job that's right up her alley

Examples of alley in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In Kyoto, a famous geisha district recently decided to close some private-property alleys. —Akaya McGill, Fortune, 30 Apr. 2024

My favorite was Koroni, where everything from the flowerpots to the electricity meters in the lopsided alleys had been painted in bright colors. —Rachel Howard, Travel + Leisure, 26 Apr. 2024

Hit some balls in the right-center field alley, and he’s taken to it. —Jeff Fletcher, Orange County Register, 25 Apr. 2024

But as the president of Columbia is now learning, locking students out of their dorms, tossing their belongings into alleys, kicking them out of school and bringing in an armed and uniformed presence to forcibly disrupt generally peaceful demonstrations is guaranteed to make the situation worse. —Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2024

Once the protesters had been removed, the police broke down some of the tents and banners and tossed them into an alley. —Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2024

Chicago Alderman Ray Lopez -- who represents Chicago's 15th Ward, which includes Gage Park -- told WLS that police found a car matching the description of Huesca's vehicle in an alley about a mile from where Huesca was discovered. —Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 24 Apr. 2024

After the shooting, the shooter fled to the alley and possibly ran south toward University Avenue. —Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Apr. 2024

But over the next few months, contractors will transform the alley into two blocks of pedestrian-only space, lined with trees, planters, benches and lights. —Luis Melecio-Zambrano, The Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Anglo-French alee, from aler to go

Noun (2)

by shortening and alteration from alabaster

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1720, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing alley

• alley cat
• alley-oop
• blind alley
• bowling alley
• down one's alley
• (right) up/down someone's alley
• up one's alley

Kids Definition

alley

noun

al·​ley

ˈal-ē

plural alleys

1

: a garden or park walk bordered by trees or bushes

2

: a narrow wooden floor on which balls are rolled in bowling

also : a room or building housing a number of such alleys

3

: a narrow street or passageway between buildings