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noun ADJ. broad, wide | narrow | busy, congested | clear, deserted, empty, lonely, quiet Let's leave when the roads are clear. | direct The airport's near here but there's no direct road. | straight | twisting, twisty, winding | steep | scenic | good, metalled, paved, smooth, surfaced, tarmac | bad, bumpy, dirt, poor, rough, unmade a bumpy road through the forest | dangerous, difficult, hard (often figurative) Bringing up a handicapped child can be a long and hard road. | safe | slippery | dusty, icy, muddy, snowbound, snowy, wet | fast | long, long-distance, main, major, national, trunk | B-, back, local, minor, secondary, small, unclassified | single-track | rural | urban | residential | tree-lined | private, public | dead-end (figurative) The government's policy on education is a dead-end road. | open We'll be able to go faster once we're out on the open road. | right, wrong We took the wrong road and had to turn back.(figurative) It does appear we are on the right road to success. | east-west, etc. | coast, coastal, country, mountain | access, arterial, ring, service, side, slip The new ring road should reduce city centre traffic. | toll VERB + ROAD follow, go down Follow the road round to the left.(figurative) We have discussed privatization, but we would prefer not to go down that road. | take, turn (left/right) into/off Take the next road on the right. | cross, get across | pull (out) into He was hit by a lorry as he pulled out into the main road. | pull off I pulled off the road for a rest. | join The track joins the main road just south of the village. | hog (= drive near the middle of the road so that others cannot get past) | block, cordon off Angry farmers blocked the road with their tractors. Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. | build | pave, resurface, surface | widen ROAD + VERB go, lead, run Where does this road go? The road runs parallel to the river. | bend, curve, turn, twist, wind The road twists and turns up the hillside. | ascend, climb The road ascends steeply from the harbour. | cross sth The road crosses the river further up the valley. | branch (off), fork Our road branches off to the left just past the wood. ROAD + NOUN atlas, map | markings, sign | intersection, junction | bridge, crossing, tunnel | closure | humps Road humps have been laid down to limit the speed of cars along the road. | communications, infrastructure, network | layout | access, link There is still no road access to the island. | development, plan, programme, project, proposal, scheme | improvements | surface | journey | crash, smash, (traffic) accident | safety | deaths | conditions | traffic, vehicles | user | manners, sense poor driving standards and lack of road manners | engineer | haulier | haulage | sweeper | tax, toll Road tax is set to rise in next month's budget. Road tolls can make travelling by motorway fairly expensive. | rage A man has been stabbed to death in a road rage attack. PREP. across the ~ The house across the road is for sale. | along the ~ He was walking along the road when he was attacked. | by ~ It takes three hours by road (= driving). | down/up the ~ They live just down the road from us. | in the ~ There was a dog in the road so we stopped. We live in/on Kingston Road. | (out) into the ~ She stepped out into the road without looking. | off the ~ My car's off the road at the moment while I recondition the engine. | on a/the ~ There's something lying on the road. There was a lot of traffic on the road this morning. on the road to Damascus My car is back on the road (= is working) again. We'd been on the road (= travelling) since dawn and needed a rest. | ~ along/over/through, etc. the main road through the centre of town | ~ from, ~ to the road to London(figurative) to be on the road to recovery/success PHRASES at/by/on the side of the road, the bottom/end/top of the road, the end of the road (figurative) This latest row could mean the end of the road for the band. | the middle of the road A dog was sitting in the middle of the road, so we stopped. | the next/second, etc. road on the left/right, a stretch of road a notoriously dangerous stretch of road
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types of road road a hard surface for cars, buses etc to drive on: • They're planning to build a new road. • My address is 42, Station Road. street a road in a town, with houses or shops on each side: • She lives on our street. • We walked along the streets of the old town. • Oxford Street is one of Europe's busiest shopping areas. • He was stopped by the police, driving the wrong way down a one-way street . • Turn left on Main Street (= the street in the middle of a town, where most of the shops are – used in American English ) . • These days the same shops are on every high street (= the street in the middle of a town, where most of the shops are – used in British English ) . avenue a road in a town, often with trees on each side: • the busy avenue in front of the cathedral • He lived on Park Avenue. boulevard a wide road in a city or town – used especially in street names in the US, France etc. In the UK, streets are usually called avenue rather than boulevard: • the world-famous Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. lane a narrow road in the country: • a winding country lane cul-de-sac a short street which is closed at one end: • The house is situated in a quiet cul-de-sac in North Oxford. track especially British English , dirt road American English a narrow road in the country, usually without a hard surface: • The farm was down a bumpy track. ring road British English a road that goes around a town: • The airport is on the ring road. bypass British English a road that goes past a town, allowing traffic to avoid the centre: • The bypass would take heavy traffic out of the old city centre. dual carriageway British English , divided highway American English a road with a barrier or strip of land in the middle that has lines of traffic travelling in each direction: • I waited until we were on the dual carriageway before I overtook him. freeway/expressway American English a very wide road in a city or between cities, on which cars can travel very fast without stopping: • Take the Hollywood Freeway (101) south, exit at Vine Street and drive east on Franklin Avenue. • Over on the side of the expressway, he saw an enormous sedan, up against a stone wall. motorway British English , highway American English a very wide road for travelling fast over long distances: • The speed limit on the motorway is 70 miles an hour. • the Pacific Coast Highway interstate American English a road for fast traffic that goes between states: • The accident happened on Interstate 84, about 10 miles east of Hartford. toll road a road that you pay to use: • The government is planning to introduce toll roads, in an effort to cut traffic congestion. turnpike American English a large road for fast traffic that you pay to use: • He dropped her off at an entrance to the New Jersey Turnpike.