expressways

noun

plural of expressway
as in highways
a passage cleared for public vehicular travel a baffling maze of high-speed expressways encircles the city

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of expressways The center sits near the Dolphin and Palmetto expressways and Interstate 95, adjacent to the Waterford Blue Lagoon Business District. — Luisa Yanez, Miami Herald, 16 Oct. 2026 Bikes are not allowed to on freeways or expressways, and cyclists cannot pass through tolls unless the signs nearby dictate otherwise. — Sacbee.com, 31 Aug. 2026 The firm noted that major bridges like the Donghai Bridge and the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, as well as regional expressways, have reopened with standard speed limits restored. — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 11 Aug. 2026 Homicide data from the Illinois State Police, which patrols the city’s expressways, also is not included here. — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 26 May 2026 In November 2016, Santa Clara County voters approved Measure B, a 30-year, half-cent countywide sales tax to enhance transit, highways, expressways, and active transportation (bicycles, pedestrians, and complete streets). — Phan Khang, Mercury News, 18 May 2026 These expressways would rapidly move large volumes of vehicles in and out of the central business district without using local roads. — Charlotte Observer, 11 May 2026 The sports complex in South Philly is surrounded by a number of main roads, interstates and expressways, including I-76, I-95, the Delaware Expressway and South Broad Street. — Kaitlyn McCormick, USA Today, 6 May 2026 This includes multilane expressways where cars speed alongside, and in some cases above, the water. — Pauline J. Yao, Artforum, 2 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expressways
  1. highways
  2. freeways
  3. roads
  4. thoroughfares
  5. streets
  6. routes
  7. roadways
  8. boulevards
Noun
  • The two highways are major entry points to the center of Kansas City and downtown.
    — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 14 Oct. 2026
  • For residents like Smith, the idea of transforming space above one of Atlanta's busiest highways offers a glimpse of what downtown could become.
    — Jamal Goss, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of highways
Noun
  • By the time the coffee shop building was going up at the end of the route in 1959, Fresco said, interstate freeways were already beginning to usurp Route 66’s role and the Santa Monica route of Interstate 10 had been plotted.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Director Christopher Nolan uses the premise to stage spectacular sequences where cars reverse down freeways at high speed, cause and effect goes topsy-turvy, and fights are just, well, weird.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of freeways
Noun
  • Most mountain roads should remain wet, but slick conditions are possible above 9,000 feet, especially after dark.
    — Joe Ruch, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Critics also worried that an unplanned surge in housing could strain schools, roads and other infrastructure.
    — Jennifer Ludden, NPR, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of roads
Noun
  • The resulting long lineups snake out from working gas stations into the main thoroughfares of Moscow and other Russian cities.
    — Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Rancho Cordova was awarded more than $3 million in grants from a local agency for two road improvement projects on major city thoroughfares.
    — Camryn Dadey, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of thoroughfares
Noun
  • The force, which rose to a peak of about 5,000 troops over the summer, has supported arrest operations, patrolled city streets and neighborhoods, and participated in cleanup efforts.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Video from the scene obtained by CNN showed ambulances rushing through narrow streets and crowds gathered outside the school building.
    — Sophia Saifi, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of streets
Noun
  • One of the first to try on that hat was the agency's Perseverance rover on Mars, which used machine learning to plan and complete its first drive on the Red Planet using routes mapped out by generative AI in December 2025.
    — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Throughout the war, Russia has repeatedly bombarded Ukraine’s Black Sea and Danube river ports, leaving Kyiv increasingly reliant on alternative routes to get its grain exports to markets in Africa and the Middle East.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of routes
Noun
  • Low-lying roadways are likely to be flooded, requiring barricades.
    — NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Less than one percent of Houston’s roadways, for example, fell within the sight pictures of the city’s nearly 4,000 ALPRs in June 2024.
    — Rafael A. Mangual, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of roadways
Noun
  • Though many travelers think of the Santa Monica Pier as the end of the route, its official terminus from 1935 on was at the intersection of Lincoln and Olympic boulevards, where Mel’s now stands.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Visitors often still liken the city’s walkable streets and historic architecture to European boulevards.
    — Colleen McNally Arnett, Southern Living, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of boulevards

Browse Nearby Words

expressway
expressways
expropriate
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Expressways.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expressways. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All