thoroughfare
Americannoun
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a road, street, or the like, that leads at each end into another street.
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a major road or highway.
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a passage or way through.
no thoroughfare.
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a strait, river, or the like, affording passage.
noun
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a road from one place to another, esp a main road
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way through or access
no thoroughfare
Etymology
Origin of thoroughfare
First recorded in 1350–1400, thoroughfare is from the Middle English word thurghfare. See thorough, fare
Explanation
A thoroughfare is a public road that can get you from one place to another. When it snows, plows try to remove the snow from the thoroughfares so the school buses can take everyone to school. You’re welcome. This somewhat old-fashioned word has a very common meaning — a public road that goes from point A to point B. The word is made up of thorough, Old English for basically, “through” and fare for “journey.” (Fare also now means a payment, but not in thoroughfare.) If a road is private, like a driveway, it’s not a thoroughfare. This word often appears in the phrase "no thoroughfare," which means there isn't a public route available.
Vocabulary lists containing thoroughfare
Fahrenheit 451
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The Call of the Wild
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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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.
This new thoroughfare created an easy and direct route to reach the park by car that avoided steep mountain roads, according to park history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
It means the city's main thoroughfare will be shut to buses between Frederick Street and South Charlotte Street into August when hundreds of thousands of visitors arrive for the International Festival and Festival Fringe.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Over time, many Palestinian shops in the Old City have shut, and the once vibrant thoroughfare flanked by old stone buildings now stands empty.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
It could take several weeks for traffic through the thoroughfare to return to even half of prewar levels, with knock-on effects continuing for months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
She’s halfway down Seattle’s busy thoroughfare of Broadway.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
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.
