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road

UK/ɾoːɖ/ US/rod/ very common uk us
noun (2) adjective (2)

noun

1.
2.

a way or means to achieve something

  • “the road to fame”

adjective

1.

taking place over public roads

  • “road racing”
Antonyms
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2.

working for a short time in different places

  • “itinerant laborers”
  • “a road show”
  • “traveling salesman”
  • “touring company”
Synonyms
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Origin

From Middle English rode, rade (“ride, journey”), from Old English rād (“riding, hostile incursion”), from Proto-West Germanic *raidu, from Proto-Germanic *raidō (“a ride”), from Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ- (“to ride”). Doublet of raid, acquired from Scots. Cognates include West Frisian reed (paved trail/road, driveway). The current primary meaning of "street, way for traveling" originated relatively late - Shakespeare seemed to expect his audiences to find it unfamiliar - and probably arose through reinterpretation of roadway (“a way for riding on”) as saying way twice, in other words as a tautological compound.

Phrases

  • 2+1 road
  • 2-1 road
  • Abu Road
  • access road
  • all roads lead to Mecca
  • all roads lead to Rome
  • all roads lead to Sydney
  • an old dog for a hard road

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.