cloverleaf

American  

[kloh-ver-leef] / ˈkloʊ vərˌlif /

noun

plural

cloverleafs, cloverleaves

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.

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adjective

1. shaped like or resembling a leaf or leaves of clover.

cloverleaf British  

/ ˈkləʊvəˌliːf /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• cloverleafed adjective

Etymology

Origin of cloverleaf

First recorded in 1930–35; clover + leaf

Example Sentences

Regularly, I found myself inching around the cloverleaf next to a handsome man in a blue BMW.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2024

Creatively designed roadways captured the public’s imagination, such as the first cloverleaf interchange, erected in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, in 1928, which allowed drivers to move between two highways without crossings or left turns.

From Slate • Aug. 28, 2024

The sanctuary area was something of a maritime highway cloverleaf.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 1, 2023

A tRNA molecule often is depicted as a cloverleaf, with an anticodon on one end, and the amino acid attachment site at the other.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

There’s also a mirror where you can do tongue exercises, to see if you can roll your tongue up at the sides or into a cloverleaf shape.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Related Words

• bridge
• crossroad
• intersection
• junction
• overpass
• passage