crosswalk
Americannoun
-
crosswalks
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of crosswalk
Explanation
A crosswalk is a marked walkway across a road or street. Crosswalks make it safer for pedestrians to cross the street. Another term for a crosswalk is a "pedestrian crossing," a path for people to use when they cross the street. Some crosswalks are simply painted lines on the road, while others have traffic signals that show you when it's safe to cross. The earliest, 18th century version of a crosswalk was a path in a garden that cut across other paths, and by the 1850s it meant "pedestrian crossing."
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:
Mark and Jacob Iskander were with their mother and younger sibling in a crosswalk at Triunfo Canyon Road when witnesses say the two cars came speeding toward them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
The detective said that if Grossman had been going 45 mph, the collision “wouldn’t have happened” because the boys would have been through the crosswalk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Customers like the photos that capture the capybaras doing something human-like: crossing a street at a crosswalk, or lined up as if to pose for him.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
The black car passed through the marked crosswalk at “insane speed,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
Another group of people are waiting to cross the crosswalk.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
"We've got reports of robots causing issues with traffic, blocking emergency vehicles because they're acting erratically at crosswalks."
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
The city initially removed the markings, citing accessibility requirements, before later reversing course and installing permanent crosswalks following public outcry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
We can place it over to the side into a larger snow pile while making sure it’s not in the way of the crosswalks and curbs.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026
First, though, we must deal with the current injustice: the planned removal of one of the coolest sets of crosswalks in any American city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
I keep my eyes straight ahead and cross three crosswalks without drawing much attention.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
