road

noun

ˈrōd How to pronounce road (audio)
Definition of roadnext
1
as in highway
a passage cleared for public vehicular travel I think we should take one of the less congested roads

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in railroad
a roadway overlaid with parallel steel rails over which trains travel the railway companies are continually repairing their roads

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 road These modules travel by road or rail before final on-site assembly. — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2026 The game will be Miami’s third road contest through the first five weeks of the season. — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 27 Sep. 2026 But lightening the blame hits a road bump with the word prevention. — Marie Lisette Rimer, Hartford Courant, 26 Sep. 2026 Isolated outback station From the air, Oak Park Station is a dot on a vast, mostly barren landscape scattered with trees, low-lying vegetation and long lines of roads and fences,around 150 miles north of Adelaide. — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for road
Recent Examples of Synonyms for road
  1. highway
  2. railroad
  3. street
  4. railway
  5. thoroughfare
  6. freeway
  7. route
  8. expressway
Noun
  • It’s been used to raise funds for Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, a Minnesota woman caught using a racist slur on camera and to support Canadian truckers who blocked highways in protest of Covid restrictions.
    — David K. Li, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026
  • This section of the two-lane road has been carved directly into the red-quartzite cliffs of the Uncompahgre Gorge, and almost none of it has a shoulder; in some places, the highway is only twenty-three feet wide.
    — Peter Hessler, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of highway
Noun
  • With California’s coast getting pounded by strong waves amid a strengthening El Niño, residents and government leaders are turning to big rocks and seawalls to protect homes and keep a railroad from falling into the sea.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026
  • When it was established, the community was part of an industrial zone, surrounded by railroad yards, warehouses, and a polluted working waterway.
    — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of railroad
Noun
  • This network, which comprises 14% of city streets where 75% of crashes occur, was updated in the new Vision Zero action plan.
    — Madison Smalstig, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The interiors lean soft with warm textures and plenty of natural light, while rooms (despite being near a busy shopping street) are designed to keep you peaceful and comfortable.
    — Katharine Sohn, Architectural Digest, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of street
Noun
  • These attacks have appeared in familiar settings, including parking meters, railway stations, restaurant menus and parcels.
    — Benjamin Claeys, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026
  • An April poll by McLaughlin & Associates found that 49 percent of likely voters expected a merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to decrease railway competition and result in job cuts.
    — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of railway
Noun
  • This, Rostov’s main thoroughfare, wasn’t illuminated by the familiar bright glare of its many street lamps, or by light from its windows, now blacked out, but emerged from the darkness all the more gently in a milky cloak of moonlight.
    — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, New Yorker, 27 Sep. 2026
  • The massive project funded from 13 federal, state and local agencies, gives a glimpse of what’s to come for Long Beach thoroughfares.
    — Barbara Kingsley-Wilson, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of thoroughfare
Noun
  • Vehicles drive on the 405 freeway (overpass) past a US flag displayed outside of the Marathon Petroleum Corp.
    — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Suburbs stretch their undulating freeways into the grid, sucking out nutrients (and cutting through neighborhoods).
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of freeway
Noun
  • The Houthis recently captured the strategic port city of Mokha and several Red Sea islands, extending their reach toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a maritime route through which about 12% of global trade passes.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Mapping And Strengthening Your Handoffs ​Modern AI can capture conversations, identify patterns, organize evidence and route insights directly into the workflows where decisions are made.
    — Stu Sjouwerman, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of route
Noun
  • Bikes are not allowed to on freeways or expressways, and cyclists cannot pass through tolls unless the signs nearby dictate otherwise.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 31 Aug. 2026
  • The driver is also alleged to have made a U-turn from a through lane after exiting the expressway, according to the affidavit.
    — Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of expressway

Phrases Containing road

Browse Nearby Words

roaches
road
roadblock
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Cite this Entry

“Road.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/road. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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