roads

noun

plural of road
1
as in highways
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 railroads
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 roads Nepal’s Department of Roads says at least 19 motorable bridges and around 40 kilometers of roads have also been damaged or washed away. — Milad Haghani, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2026 Rescue efforts, still in their first stages, have been hampered by the fact that the floodwaters have washed away entire roads. — Diaa Hadid, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026 The government promoted projects involving roads, ports, rail transportation, and the modernization of La Aurora International Airport, as well as plans for a metropolitan rail system in Guatemala City. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Aug. 2026 Nepalese officials said that dozens of bridges were destroyed and nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles) of roads were damaged, complicating search efforts. — Shristi Kafle, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026 Hundreds have lost their homes across the Himalayan region, and officials reported large-scale damage to critical infrastructure, including hydropower dams, roads, buildings and bridges in the region. — Sibi Arasu, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026 Police urged residents to stay off the roads while cleanup and recovery efforts continue. — Ross Dimattei, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026 The network of 187 miles of toll roads — the Tri-State Tollway, Northwest Tollway and East-West Tollway — opened before Christmas 1958, as promised. — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2026 The nearby units were also evacuated, and some roads near the restaurant were temporarily closed. — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 20 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for roads
  1. highways
  2. railroads
  3. streets
  4. railways
  5. thoroughfares
  6. freeways
  7. routes
  8. expressways
Noun
  • Key Biscayne The Village of Key Biscayne strictly prohibits all micromobility devices on streets, highways, sidewalks, bicycle paths, multiuse paths and trails, beaches and dunes unless otherwise authorized.
    — Amaia Gavica, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Two men were sentenced Thursday for staging crashes on New York City highways to get fraudulent insurance payouts.
    — Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of highways
Noun
  • The initiative, according to details shared first with Semafor, will allow state-level transportation agencies and railroads to lease out land alongside roads and tracks to private sector companies to develop new infrastructure.
    — Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The story of Colorado’s railroads doesn’t end in the Royal Gorge.
    — Jocelyn Rowley, Denver Post, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of railroads
Noun
  • The Basij run a nationwide network of volunteers who maintain a presence in the streets, government offices and cultural centers, seeking to ensure loyalty and ideological purity for Iran’s theocracy.
    — Lee Keath, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026
  • This location is more residential, with quieter streets and approachable local trattorias, but offers several architecturally significant palaces and one of the city's oldest churches, the 11th-century San Zan Degola.
    — Irene S. Levine, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of streets
Noun
  • Finch argues that because kudzu is most aggressive along roads, railways, and forest edges, the vine has become hyper-visible in the age of the automobile.
    — The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Those facilities provide drydocks, shiplifts, railways and pier-side support for Navy and government vessels.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of railways
Noun
  • According to the county, road improvements are coming for some of the thoroughfares near Boca Lago.
    — Abigail Hasebroock, Sun Sentinel, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Schools remain closed and downed trees are blocking major thoroughfares.
    — Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of thoroughfares
Noun
  • The parking lot is west of Magnolia Avenue and just north of the interchange of the 91 and 5 freeways.
    — Nathaniel Percy, Oc Register, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Born to Mary Florence Webb, a nurse, and John Sherman Heilmann, a civil engineer, Heilmann split her childhood between the Bay Area and, after her father took a job building freeways, Los Angeles, by way of El Segundo, a seaside village nearby.
    — Harrison Jacobs, ARTnews.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of freeways
Noun
  • From classic Amtrak routes crossing the Continental Divide to historic steam locomotives chugging through the state’s mining past, these journeys continue to preserve the stories, scenery and communities that helped shape the West.
    — Jocelyn Rowley, Denver Post, 25 Aug. 2026
  • In a bid to control traffic through the narrow waterway, Iran has designated routes going through their territorial waters.
    — Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of routes
Noun
  • 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
Definition of expressways

Browse Nearby Words

road rage
roads
roadstead
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Cite this Entry

“Roads.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/roads. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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