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.
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.
As he sprinted down an alleyway in April 2020, former Whittier Det.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 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
He said another volunteer had told him there was a "suspicious-looking man" who claimed to have been looking for a nearby pub before "disappearing" down the alleyway next to the building.
From BBC • Oct. 6, 2025
Around 1:14 a.m. on Feb. 14, Burbank detectives observed a Cheverolet Cruze park in a Downey alleyway and two men walk into the nearby USA Donuts, according to the criminal complaint.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2025
An entire stretch of the alleyway is coated in chewed pieces of gum, a sticky, pointillist rainbow across the bricks.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
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.
