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Synonyms

cloverleaf

American  
[kloh-ver-leef] / ˈkloʊ vərˌlif /

noun

  • cloverleafs,
    plural
  • cloverleaves
    plural
  1. a road arrangement, resembling a four-leaf clover in form, for permitting easy traffic movement between two intersecting high-speed highways. One highway passes over the other, and both are joined by a system of curved feeder roads permitting vehicles to enter and leave the highways.


adjective

  1. shaped like or resembling a leaf or leaves of clover.

cloverleaf British  
/ ˈkləʊvəˌliːf /

noun

  1. an arrangement of connecting roads, resembling a four-leaf clover in form, that joins two intersecting main roads

  2. (modifier) in the shape or pattern of a leaf of clover

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of cloverleaf

First recorded in 1930–35; clover + leaf

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The viruses shared nearly identical RNA cloverleaf structures and binding behavior.

From Science Daily May 13, 2026

Regularly, I found myself inching around the cloverleaf next to a handsome man in a blue BMW.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 26, 2024

Creatively designed roadways captured the public’s imagination, such as the first cloverleaf interchange, erected in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, in 1928, which allowed drivers to move between two highways without crossings or left turns.

From Slate Aug. 28, 2024

The sanctuary area was something of a maritime highway cloverleaf.

From Seattle Times Mar. 1, 2023

There’s also a mirror where you can do tongue exercises, to see if you can roll your tongue up at the sides or into a cloverleaf shape.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

We’re going fast around all the cloverleafs and overpasses.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 22, 2024

Routes 95, 29, 32 and 1 and local roads and cloverleafs are filled with trash, including rubber from tires, mattresses, car parts, bags of trash and debris.

From Washington Post Sep. 9, 2022

Mr. Aitken’s camera takes in vast stretches of barren terrain and highway cloverleafs.

From New York Times Apr. 26, 2018

The highways on Long Island were twisted into cloverleafs!

From The Guardian Sep. 4, 2010

Freeway cloverleafs eliminate the need for intersection stopping; limited access banishes blind entrances and overly frequent inflows of traffic.

From Time Magazine Archive

Furth are called 'Kleeblatter', which means cloverleaves, but luck has not been on their side in just their second ever season in the Bundesliga.

From BBC Dec. 22, 2021

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