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:
A man in Washington filmed himself raging at a Mingo delivery robot, yelling “You took a human job!” after the robot asked for help pressing a crosswalk button.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
The boys, 11 and 8, were with their mother and younger brother when witnesses say vehicles driven by Grossman and Erickson came speeding toward the crosswalk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
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
They reached Geary and Chicken jabbed the crosswalk button.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
Chicago, under its “complete streets” design program, has been reworking the Archer Avenue area since last year, narrowing the main lane to calm traffic and adding consistent left-turn lanes, pedestrian islands and improved crosswalks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
"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
We entered the Dodger Stadium property at an intersection with no crosswalks, where cars enter and exit the 110 freeway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 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
All classrooms were crowded, swarms were on the crosswalks, the dormitories were as noisy as factories, every bulletin board was a forest of notices.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
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