corridor

[kawr-i-der, -dawr, kor-]

noun

1. a gallery or passage connecting parts of a building; hallway.

2. a passage into which several rooms or apartments open.

3. a passageway in a passenger ship or railroad car permitting access to separate cabins or compartments.

4. a narrow tract of land forming a passageway, as one connecting two major cities or one belonging to an inland country and affording an outlet to the sea.

   the Polish Corridor.

5. a usually densely populated region characterized by one or more well-traveled routes used by railroad, airline, or other carriers.

   The Northeast corridor extends from Washington, D.C., to Boston.

6. Also called air corridor. Aeronautics.,  a restricted path along which an aircraft must travel to avoid hostile action, other air traffic, etc.

7. Aerospace.,  a carefully calculated path through the atmosphere along which a space vehicle must travel after launch or during reentry in order to attain a desired orbit, to avoid severe acceleration and deceleration, or to minimize aerodynamic heating.

corridor

/ ˈkɒrɪˌdɔː /

noun

1. a hallway or passage connecting parts of a building

2. a strip of land or airspace along the route of a road or river

   the M1 corridor

3. a strip of land or airspace that affords access, either from a landlocked country to the sea (such as the Polish corridor , 1919-39, which divided Germany) or from a state to an exclave (such as the Berlin corridor , 1945–90, which passed through the former East Germany)

4. a passageway connecting the compartments of a railway coach

5. the higher echelons of government, the Civil Service, etc, considered as the location of power and influence

6. a flight path that affords safe access for intruding aircraft

7. the path that a spacecraft must follow when re-entering the atmosphere, above which lift is insufficient and below which heating effects are excessive

Other Word Forms

• corridored adjective
• precorridor noun
• uncorridored adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of corridor¹

First recorded in 1585–95; from Middle French, from Upper Italian corridore (Tuscan corridoio ), equivalent to corr(ere) “to run,” (from Latin currere ) + -idore, from Latin -i- + -tōrium noun suffix; -i-, -tory ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of corridor¹

C16: from Old French, from Old Italian corridore, literally: place for running, from correre to run, from Latin currere

Example Sentences

WSJ: What are your thoughts on the efforts to build a rail and sea corridor that will link India with Europe and the U.S. via the United Arab Emirates and Israel?

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He is a delight to watch - even just the sight of him strolling the corridors with his hood up trying to look menacing makes you laugh.

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"When it comes to the corridor, it funnels right through," says Ms Hammar, who has gone to the hospital twice because of the way the gas "feels like its squeezing your heart".

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Unicef spokesman James Elder described how mothers and wounded children were "lining the corridor floors" of Nasser, and that premature babies were having to share a single bed or oxygen source.

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It said the goal of the flotilla was to "break the illegal siege on Gaza by sea, open a humanitarian corridor, and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people".

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Related Words

• aisle 
• foyer 
• hall 
• lobby 
• passage 
• passageway