corridor

American  

[kawr-i-der, -dawr, kor-] / ˈkɔr ɪ dər, -ˌdɔr, ˈkɒr- /

noun

1. a gallery or passage connecting parts of a building; hallway.

2. a passage into which several rooms or apartments open.

3. a passageway in a passenger ship or railroad car permitting access to separate cabins or compartments.

4. a narrow tract of land forming a passageway, as one connecting two major cities or one belonging to an inland country and affording an outlet to the sea.

   the Polish Corridor.

5. a usually densely populated region characterized by one or more well-traveled routes used by railroad, airline, or other carriers.

   The Northeast corridor extends from Washington, D.C., to Boston.

6. Also called air corridor.  Aeronautics. a restricted path along which an aircraft must travel to avoid hostile action, other air traffic, etc.

7. Aerospace. a carefully calculated path through the atmosphere along which a space vehicle must travel after launch or during reentry in order to attain a desired orbit, to avoid severe acceleration and deceleration, or to minimize aerodynamic heating.

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corridor British  

/ ˈkɒrɪˌdɔː /

noun

1. a hallway or passage connecting parts of a building

2. a strip of land or airspace along the route of a road or river

   the M1 corridor

3. a strip of land or airspace that affords access, either from a landlocked country to the sea (such as the Polish corridor , 1919-39, which divided Germany) or from a state to an exclave (such as the Berlin corridor , 1945–90, which passed through the former East Germany)

4. a passageway connecting the compartments of a railway coach

5. the higher echelons of government, the Civil Service, etc, considered as the location of power and influence

6. a flight path that affords safe access for intruding aircraft

7. the path that a spacecraft must follow when re-entering the atmosphere, above which lift is insufficient and below which heating effects are excessive

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Other Word Forms

• corridored
  adjective
• precorridor
  noun
• uncorridored
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of corridor

First recorded in 1585–95; from Middle French, from Upper Italian corridore (Tuscan corridoio ), equivalent to corr(ere) “to run,” (from Latin currere ) + -idore, from Latin -i- + -tōrium noun suffix; see -i-, -tory ²

Explanation

A long hallway, especially one that has rooms opening up into it, is called a corridor. Late at night, hotel corridors all look alike. Be sure you try to open the right door with your key card. A corridor is also a tract of land that connects two places or runs along the side of a road. In your town, the business corridor might be a fairly small strip of land with just a couple of restaurants and a few stores. The Northeast Corridor is the built-up area that links eastern cities in a chain that stretches from Boston to Washington, D.C.

Example Sentences

“That element is to encapsulate that Stagg was fearing for his wife. As he walks down this corridor, he is faced with: Is she alive? Is she dead?”

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026

Broken cease-fire agreements meant a promised humanitarian corridor out of the area never materialized.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026

The government, which has been flying food into the capital since May 10, announced it will seek to open blockaded highways around La Paz on Tuesday for a six-hour period to establish a "humanitarian corridor."

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

Inglewood’s historic Market Street gets an $8.5 million boost as local restaurants receive grants to renovate storefronts and revitalize the city’s corridor.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

We crossed the grounds, entered the castle doors, now gilded gold, marched up a grand golden staircase, and down a long corridor to a large golden door with gold handles.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

Related Words

• aisle
• foyer
• hall
• lobby
• passage
• passageway