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:
He should have used the nearby crosswalk, but there aren’t enough of those on the boulevard, so pedestrians routinely skitter and scoot across the street like they’re in a game of Frogger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
Mark and Jacob were with their mother and younger sibling in a crosswalk at Triunfo Canyon Road when witnesses said two cars sped toward them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 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
They reached Geary and Chicken jabbed the crosswalk button.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
"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
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy sent letters to governors directing that crosswalks must not contain distractions: “Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
“It’s okay, Con. You should go with Mom. Hold her hand in the parking lot, and look both ways when you’re going across the crosswalks, okay?”
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
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.
