byway

noun

by·​way ˈbī-ˌwā 

1

: a little traveled side road

2

: a secondary or little known aspect or field

… meandering more and more in the fascinating byways of learning.

—The Times Literary Supplement (London)

Examples of byway in a Sentence

I prefer to take byways to town.

He's traveled the highways and byways of this country.

the byways of the art world

The book chronicles some of the interesting byways of legal history.

Recent Examples on the Web

Imagine that—mother, child, and a half dozen designer beasts in a teetering Winnebago, careening down byways, pulling into Woonsocket for a night to drop off last weekend’s wolf pack and pick up the next, before getting back on the road to chase glory all over again. —Andrew Norman Wilson, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026

The Creole Nature Trail is a 180-mile scenic byway that cuts through Louisiana’s Cajun Country, also known as Acadiana. —Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 19 Feb. 2026

The maximalism and somewhat uncompromising presumption of a newspaper, with its warren of sections and columns and byways, is a quiet reproach to its audience’s most parochial instincts. —Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026

Boss of the byways Of course, not every snowy road is created equal. —Ella Cobb, Denver Post, 22 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for byway

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway
• beret

Kids Definition

byway

noun

by·​way ˈbī-ˌwā 

: a little-traveled side road