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definitions

cloverleaf

[kloh-ver-leef]
See more synonyms for cloverleaf on Thesaurus.com
noun, plural clo·ver·leafs, clo·ver·leaves.
  1. 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
  1. shaped like or resembling a leaf or leaves of clover.

Origin of cloverleaf

First recorded in 1930–35; clover + leaf
Related formsclo·ver·leafed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for cloverleaf

crossing, interchange, junction, intersection, edge, rim, overpass, crossroad, bridge, passage, circle, stop, crossway, cloverleaf, crosswalk, fork, ridge, projection, veer, crook

Examples from the Web for cloverleaf

Historical Examples of cloverleaf

  • He entered the cloverleaf and was halfway through it when he saw the copter.

    Rebels of the Red Planet

    Charles Louis Fontenay

  • The clubs of playing-cards are also no doubt an imitation of the cloverleaf.

  • Immediately, he put the groundcar in drive and whipped out of the cloverleaf under full acceleration.

    Rebels of the Red Planet

    Charles Louis Fontenay

  • Dark slowed and entered the cloverleaf that took him onto the bypass expressway.

    Rebels of the Red Planet

    Charles Louis Fontenay

  • Every cloverleaf sparkled and the leaves of wheat bristled like tiny spears.

    Hiram The Young Farmer

    Burbank L. Todd

British Dictionary definitions for cloverleaf

cloverleaf

noun plural -leaves
  1. an arrangement of connecting roads, resembling a four-leaf clover in form, that joins two intersecting main roads
  2. (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
Word Origin and History for cloverleaf
n.

1882, from clover + leaf (n.). Highway interchange sense attested by 1933.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper