junction
Americannoun
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junctions
plural
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an act of joining; combining.
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the state of being joined; union.
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a place or point where two or more things are joined, as a seam or joint.
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a place or point where two or more things meet or converge.
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a place or station where railroad lines meet, cross, or diverge.
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an intersection of streets, highways, or roads.
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something that joins other things together.
He used the device as a junction between the branch circuit and the main power lines.
- Synonyms:
- connection
noun
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a place where several routes, lines, or roads meet, link, or cross each other
a railway junction
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a point on a motorway where traffic may leave or join it
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electronics
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a contact between two different metals or other materials
a thermocouple junction
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a transition region between regions of differing electrical properties in a semiconductor
a p-n junction
-
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a connection between two or more conductors or sections of transmission lines
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the act of joining or the state of being joined
Synonym Usage
Junction, juncture refer to a place, line, or point at which two or more things join. A junction is also a place where things come together: the junction of two rivers. A juncture is a line or point at which two bodies are joined, or a point of exigency or crisis in time: the juncture of the head and neck; a critical juncture in a struggle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of junction
First recorded in 1705–15; from Latin junctiōn- (stem of junctiō ), equivalent to junct(us), past participle of jungere “to join” ( jung- join + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
The noun junction refers to a meeting or a joining of some kind. If you live at the junction of Main and State streets, then your house is where those two streets meet. Junction often refers to the point where streets or railway lines come together, but it can describe other things that are joined, especially things that are in motion or transmit other things. For example, your body has nerve junctions — the places where your nerves come together. You may go swimming at the junction of two rivers. Junction can also refer to something that connects things, like a junction you use to connect electrical cords.
Vocabulary lists containing junction
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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Greetings, World Traveler! — List 2
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Prince Caspian
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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 A31 has been closed in both directions between Picket Post and junction two of the M27, with motorists being advised to avoid the area and find alternative routes.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
That compares with $2.72 the same day at Henry Hub, a Louisiana pipeline junction where the national benchmark is set.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The fatal collision occurred about five minutes later on the secluded Perthshire road near the junction with Gowrie Farm.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Absorbed students carefully threaded wires into junction boxes to make circuits connected to lights, bulbs flickering on one by one to signal a job well done.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
A girl sat at a small desk at the junction, handing out flyers.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
Chemical synapses use neurotransmitters to pass messages between cells, while electrical synapses, also called gap junctions, transmit signals through direct electrical currents.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
But Deutsche Bahn criticised the decision, saying the move could "worsen the structural problems of rail junctions".
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Typical rush hour congestion already creates borderline unsafe conditions for boarding and exiting popular junctions like Penn Station and Secaucus, partially because these rail lines already run over capacity.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
Multani also found a particular connection in Raf Sappera, a U.K.-based Punjabi rapper of Pakistani origin who straddles the same cultural junctions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
You could stretch the tube map into all sorts of hoops and loops and it would be the same map, as long as the junctions were the same.
From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
