causeway
Americanverb (used with object)
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to pave (a road or street) with cobblestones or pebbles.
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to provide with a causeway.
noun
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a raised path or road crossing water, marshland, sand, etc
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a paved footpath
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a road surfaced with setts
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of causeway
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at causey, way 1
Explanation
A causeway is a raised road that crosses a body of water or very low, wet ground. If an island has a causeway, you won't need to take a boat to get there. Causeways are built atop an embankment, a heap of soil raising the roadway (or train track) above the ground. A causeway itself is made of earth, wood, concrete, or stone, providing a solid surface for vehicles. Ancient causeways were compressed by the feet of humans or animals, with layers of soil added until they were high and compact enough to be useful. The word comes from the Latin calx, "heel," from the notion of stamping down on the earth.
Vocabulary lists containing causeway
Aztec, Maya, and Inca Empires - Introductory
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Aztec, Maya, and Inca Empires - Middle School and High School
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The Early Americas and European Exploration, Lessons 1–2
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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.
See Examples For:
The result is a 2,700-foot causeway where ferries or civilian cargo ships could pull up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025
At the Auckland Outboard Boating Club, members were having a Wednesday-night drink when one of them noticed a Zodiac lying abandoned on the causeway.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
What was once Great Britain is now a quarantined island, cut off from the mainland and protected by an armed causeway that can only be accessed during low tide.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2025
The tide recedes every day for a few hours, long enough to walk across a narrow strip of causeway to the mainland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2025
I gunned my car and sped down the causeway, skipping from key to key until I arrived in Key West.
From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos
Across the causeways and located directly on the beach, Untitled had even more to enjoy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Archaeologists found pyramids, sports fields, causeways connecting districts and amphitheatres in the southeastern state of Campeche.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2024
Television’s Memory Lane has as many versions as there are Atlanta streets named Peachtree, with only a few of those causeways seeing heavy traffic.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2023
It was a massive island city with large causeways that connected it to the shores of the lake.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
“We have one set of people constructing the ring ditches and another set of people constructing the causeways and mounds,” Alvarez told me.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
