corridor

American  

[kawr-i-der, -dawr, kor-] / ˈkɔr ɪ dər, -ˌdɔr, ˈkɒr- /

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 British  

/ 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

Etymology

Origin of corridor

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; see -i-, -tory ²

Explanation

A long hallway, especially one that has rooms opening up into it, is called a corridor. Late at night, hotel corridors all look alike. Be sure you try to open the right door with your key card. A corridor is also a tract of land that connects two places or runs along the side of a road. In your town, the business corridor might be a fairly small strip of land with just a couple of restaurants and a few stores. The Northeast Corridor is the built-up area that links eastern cities in a chain that stretches from Boston to Washington, D.C.

Example Sentences

For years, the Lobito Corridor was billed as the biggest US infrastructure investment in Africa.

From Barron's • May 7, 2026

It guides for record production of 165,000-170,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day this year, supported by factors including first full-year contribution of its Corridor block.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

At this week's HumanX AI conference in San Francisco, Alex Stamos of startup Corridor, which addresses AI safety, acknowledged a real threat from agentic hackers.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

In January, Metro approved a multibillion-dollar plan for a 13-mile underground subway for the Sepulveda Transit Corridor connecting the San Fernando Valley to the Westside.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

Poland was also given a strip of land called the Polish Corridor.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Related Words

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