neighborhood

American  

[nay-ber-hood] / ˈneɪ bərˌhʊd /

noun

• neighborhoods
  plural

1. 

   the area or region around or near some place or thing; vicinity.

   the kids of the neighborhood; located in the neighborhood of Jackson and Vine streets.

2. a district or locality, often with reference to its character or inhabitants.

   a fashionable neighborhood; to move to a nicer neighborhood.

   Synonyms:

   vicinity, locale, area, community

3. a number of persons living near one another or in a particular locality.

   The whole neighborhood was there.

4. neighborly feeling or conduct.

5. nearness; proximity.

   to sense the neighborhood of trouble.

6. Mathematics. an open set that contains a given point.

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idioms

1. in the neighborhood of, approximately; nearly; about.

   She looks to be in the neighborhood of 70.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• neighborhoods
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of neighborhood

First recorded in 1400–50, neighborhood is from the late Middle English word neighborehode. See neighbor, -hood

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Explanation

Use the noun neighborhood when you're talking about a community within a town or city. Getting to know the people and places in your neighborhood can make you feel right at home in a city of millions. A neighborhood can be created by lines on a map that designate a district, or it can grow over time to become a neighborhood with a certain personality, based on who lives there. You can also use neighborhood to describe something nearby, like promising to visit a friend the next time you are in the neighborhood — or something that's approximate, like a restaurants whose burgers are in the neighborhood of ten dollars.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

neighborhood neighborhoods

A digital waitlist lets you wander around the neighborhood, browse the shops, maybe get a head start on another errand.

From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026

Recently, a growing cluster of AI studios, including Promise, TrueShort, Native Foreign, and PhantomX, are expanding in the neighborhood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

Kristen Vanetsky and her family moved to Bend, Oregon, after a shooting in their New Mexico neighborhood, choosing Silver Rail elementary for her grandson because they considered it safer.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

The expansive grounds also provide an added layer of privacy, shielding the property from its surrounding neighborhood.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

Most of the people in her neighborhood couldn’t afford to leave.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

In Walton, a Liverpool suburb that ranks as one of Britain’s most deprived neighborhoods, around 1 in 2 households claim welfare, and 1 in 5 working-age residents claim PIP.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Meanwhile, shoes fitted with motion sensors could provide feedback as patients practice walking at home or around their neighborhoods.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

The news conference, attended by more than a dozen parents, was organized by California Rising, a nonprofit that describes itself as advocating for public safety, and cleaner, stronger neighborhoods.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Park advocates have long argued that the existing city allocation is inadequate, leaving neighborhoods with decaying recreation centers, deteriorating swimming pools and filthy park bathrooms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

It was a commercial center, with distinctly drawn neighborhoods that separated the rich from the poor.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

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Related Words

• area
• block
• district
• parish
• part
• precinct
• region
• section
• street
• suburb
• territory
• zone

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