arcade

[ ahr-keyd ]

/ ɑrˈkeɪd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR arcade ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Architecture.

a series of arches supported on piers or columns.
an arched, roofed-in gallery.Compare colonnade.

an arched or covered passageway, usually with shops on each side.

an establishment, public area, etc., containing games of a mechanical and electronic type, as pinball and video games, that can be played by a customer for a fee.

an ornamental carving, as on a piece of furniture, in the form of a row of arches.

verb (used with object), ar·cad·ed, ar·cad·ing.

to provide with an arcade.

Nearby words

arc, d', arc-back, arc-boutant, arc-jet engine, arca, arcade, arcade game, arcaded, arcadia, arcadian, arcadic

Origin of arcade

1725–35; < French < Italian arcata arch, equivalent to arc(o) arch (see arc) + -ata -ate¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for arcade

I remember the rush when I even got close to an Asteroids game in an arcade or a pizzeria.
‘Asteroids’ & The Dawn of the Gamer Age|David Owen|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even though it was a school day—about fifth period, I calculated—the arcade was filled with seventh graders.
‘Asteroids’ & The Dawn of the Gamer Age|David Owen|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Marketing data from the initial field test indicated that the game was being played virtually every minute the arcade was open.
‘Asteroids’ & The Dawn of the Gamer Age|David Owen|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Arcade Fire released the powerful music video for the song “We Exist,” featuring Andrew Garfield dressed as a woman.
Andrew Garfield in ‘We Exist’ and More Celebrities in Music Videos|Marina Watts|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Arcade Fire kicked off the night with a live performance of “Afterlife.”
The YouTube Music Awards Were Alarmingly Strange and Epically Cool|Kevin Fallon|November 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He stopped to send his officer to the Arcade; but the National Guard had been withdrawn from there, too.
The Countess of Charny|Alexandre Dumas (pere)
An Early English wall with an arcade of lancets connects the vestibule with the north transept.
The Cathedrals of Great Britain|P. H. Ditchfield
The arches of the arcade carry walls which rise above the roofs of the aisles, and light the nave.
Architecture|Thomas Roger Smith
Octavia was frowning; Aurelius had turned crimson and nodded to his Gothic slave, who was standing aside under the arcade.
Quintus Claudius, Volume 1 of 2|Ernst Eckstein
He led me into an arcade surrounding the inner court of the building.
Discoveries among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon|Austen H. Layard

British Dictionary definitions for arcade

arcade

/ (ɑːˈkeɪd) /

noun

a set of arches and their supporting columns

a covered and sometimes arched passageway, usually with shops on one or both sides

a building, or part of a building, with an arched roof

Word Origin for arcade

C18: from French, from Italian arcata, from arco, from Latin arcus bow, arch

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012