corridor

noun

cor·​ri·​dor ˈkȯr-ə-dər 

ˈkär-,

-ˌdȯr

1

a

: a passageway (as in a hotel or office building) into which compartments or rooms open

b

: a place or position in which especially political power is wielded through discussion and deal-making

was excluded from the corridors of power after losing the election

2

: a usually narrow passageway or route: such as

a

: a narrow strip of land through foreign-held territory

b

: a restricted lane for air traffic

c

: a land path used by migrating animals

3

a

: a densely populated strip of land including two or more major cities

… the Northeast corridor stretching from Washington into New England …

—S. D. Browne

b

: an area or stretch of land identified by a specific common characteristic or purpose

a corridor of liberalism

the city's industrial corridor

Synonyms

• region
• neck
• land
• part(s)

Examples of corridor in a Sentence

They pushed me down the hospital corridor to the operating room.

A corridor of land lies between the two mountain ranges.

Recent Examples on the Web

China, on the other hand, aims to launch a fully operational hyperloop corridor between Shanghai and Guangzhou by 2035. —Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2025

Carter has to hide behind pieces of waist-high cover and move around Simms, who patrols the corridors of the ship, to try and make it to his destination. —Echo Apsey, Space.com, 9 Sep. 2025

Sharon details how this squad helps Anthropic’s business, too, burnishing its reputation as the AI lab that cares the most about AI safety and perhaps winning it a more receptive ear in the corridors of power. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025

There was no signal in any of the elevators in Gaoloujin or in most of the corridors. —Jack Hargreaves, The Dial, 9 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

earlier "covered passageway, path surrounding fortifications," borrowed from French, borrowed from regional Italian (by-form of Tuscan corridoio), from correre "to run" (going back to Latin currere) + -idore, going back to Latin -i-tōrium (from -i- -i- + -tōrium, suffix of place, from neuter of -tōrius, adjective derivative of -tōr-, -tor, agent suffix) — more at current entry 1

First Known Use

1719, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

corridor

noun

cor·​ri·​dor ˈkȯr-əd-ər 

ˈkär-,

-ə-ˌdȯ(ə)r

1

: a passageway (as in a school) into which compartments or rooms open

2

: a narrow strip of land especially through territory held by an enemy

Etymology

from early French corridor "passageway," from early Italian corridore (same meaning), from correre "to run," from Latin currere "to run" — related to course, current