SINCE 1828
urban sprawl
nounDefinition of urban sprawl
: the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city
Examples of urban sprawl in a Sentence
efforts to stop urban sprawl
Recent Examples on the Web
As a city, Houston has long been famous for its urban sprawl. — Michelle Sandlin, Houston Chronicle, "On the Move: Houston’s urban environment attracts newcomers," 23 June 2019 And thanks to the growth of both areas, the urban sprawl between the two is probably 10-15 years away from melding the two metros, with small cities like San Marcos and New Braunfels (Kliff Kingsbury’s hometown!) in between. — Conor Orr, SI.com, "Which Cities Would Deserve the Newest NFL Expansion Team?," 7 June 2019 Today, both ends of the trail are embedded in a thoroughly urban sprawl of malls and traffic jams, but the middle remains a delicious haven of peace. — National Geographic, "10 ancient highways around the world," 3 Apr. 2019 Focusing on the biophysical rules that control these bacterial cities at the microscale might just give scientists a way to halt the urban sprawl and give more humans a fighting chance. — Carrie Arnold, Quanta Magazine, "Building Codes for Bacterial Cities," 25 July 2017 Meanwhile, all that urban sprawl is causing structures around the world—churches, inns, and general stores included—to go up for sale. — Sara Rodrigues, House Beautiful, "Tired of Your One-Bedroom? You Can Own This Entire Town For Less Than A U.S. Home," 17 May 2019 But Washington Road still maintains that distinctly American feel of urban sprawl run amok. — Paul Newberry, The Seattle Times, "Outside Masters, Washington Road bustles in its tacky glory," 13 Apr. 2019 For one week a year, urban sprawl gets a chance to shine in all its tacky glory. — Paul Newberry, The Seattle Times, "Outside Masters, Washington Road bustles in its tacky glory," 13 Apr. 2019 The county’s staff report points out that in 1991 Seminole designated roughly a third of the eastern side of the county as rural to preserve the pasturelands, environmentally-sensitive wetlands and Econlockhatchee River from urban sprawl. — Martin E. Comas, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Seminole County report blasts plan to build hundreds of homes in rural area," 10 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'urban sprawl.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on urban sprawl
What made you want to look up urban sprawl? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Farm Idioms Quiz
-
- What does 'poke' refer to in the expression 'pig in a poke'?
Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
Share urban sprawl
Resources for urban sprawl