alleyway
Americannoun
Usage
What is an alleyway? An alleyway is a narrow passage between buildings or other structures. Alleyway can also refer to a narrow path or passage behind a row of houses, such as one that allows access to garages and back yards. The word alley means the same thing. Example: We took a shortcut through the narrow alleyway between the shops.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of alleyway
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:
"We believe the suspects turned right after leaving the house and then ran down an alleyway beside the next-door property," Insp Dalzell said.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2026
Fox11 News, which obtained a surveillance video recording of the attack, reported that the incident took place by the 11th Court alleyway near the Hermosa Beach Pier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025
"He literally walked from the alleyway not knowing what he was about to walk into," she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2025
The first-generation underground churches of a half-century ago met in houses and undisclosed alleyway rooms, gathering by word of mouth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
At the end of the alleyway, Ernesto Brito, nervously attempting a sharp right turn, clatters to the ground.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
Most Palestinian shopkeepers in the Old City had pulled down their metal shutters and deserted the stone alleyways.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
A woman, in a rhinestone shirt, told me that she wanted to convene her fellow cyclists to whizz by the gulleys and alleyways around Tucson, searching for clues in the muck.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
Parnia said she ran away down alleyways and was suddenly pulled into an apartment block by a woman.
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2026
At the confluence of three alleyways, the crowd swells, a living, breathing thing.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025
Consequently, the alleyways became a stinking cesspool, swarming with flies the size of rats, and rats the size of cats.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
