cloverleaf

[ kloh-ver-leef ]

/ ˈkloʊ vərˌlif /

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noun, plural clo·ver·leafs, clo·ver·leaves.

a road arrangement, resembling a four-leaf clover in form, for permitting easy traffic movement between two intersecting high-speed highways. One highway passes over the other, and both are joined by a system of curved feeder roads permitting vehicles to enter and leave the highways.

adjective

shaped like or resembling a leaf or leaves of clover.

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Origin of cloverleaf

First recorded in 1930–35; clover + leaf

OTHER WORDS FROM cloverleaf

clo·ver·leafed, adjective

Words nearby cloverleaf

cloven hoof, cloven-hoofed, clove oil, clove pink, clover, cloverleaf, cloverleaf aerial, Clovis, Clovis I, clovis point, clowder

How to use cloverleaf in a sentence

You can’t just go tearing down highways and cloverleafs to make way for a light-rail network, at least not without great expense and complication.
Mayor Pete and Elaine Chao Hit the Road (Ep. 471)|Stephen J. Dubner|August 5, 2021|Freakonomics
It’s not just in highway medians, but also those cloverleaf interchanges.
How Stupid Is Our Obsession With Lawns? (Ep. 289 Rebroadcast)|Stephen J. Dubner|July 1, 2021|Freakonomics
Dark slowed and entered the cloverleaf that took him onto the bypass expressway.
Rebels of the Red Planet|Charles Louis Fontenay
The clubs of playing-cards are also no doubt an imitation of the cloverleaf.
Flowers of Mountain and Plain|Edith S. Clements

Every cloverleaf sparkled and the leaves of wheat bristled like tiny spears.
Hiram The Young Farmer|Burbank L. Todd
Immediately, he put the groundcar in drive and whipped out of the cloverleaf under full acceleration.
Rebels of the Red Planet|Charles Louis Fontenay
From the archways some three dozen slidewalks curved out, tangenting off each other in a bewildering multiple cloverleaf.
The Creature from Cleveland Depths|Fritz Reuter Leiber

British Dictionary definitions for cloverleaf

cloverleaf

/ (ˈkləʊvəˌliːf) /

noun plural -leaves

an arrangement of connecting roads, resembling a four-leaf clover in form, that joins two intersecting main roads

(modifier) in the shape or pattern of a leaf of clover

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

cloverleaf

Origin of cloverleaf

OTHER WORDS FROM cloverleaf

Words nearby cloverleaf

Words related to cloverleaf

How to use cloverleaf in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cloverleaf