freeway
Americannoun
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freeways
plural
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an express highway with no intersections, usually having traffic routed on and off by means of a cloverleaf.
-
a toll-free highway.
noun
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another name for expressway
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a major road that can be used without paying a toll
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of freeway
Compare meaning
How does freeway compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A freeway is a busy, divided road with several lanes heading in both directions. The freeway is often to quickest way to get where you're going, unless there's a traffic jam or an accident slowing things down. People often use the terms freeway and highway interchangeably, and there's also parkway and expressway — or motorway, if you're in the UK. Traffic moves fast on the freeway, and its access is limited to exits that lead to and from smaller local roads and streets. There are no traffic signals on the freeway, but a crash or road work can sometimes bring traffic to a complete stop.
Vocabulary lists containing freeway
The Distance Between Us
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Land of the Cranes
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We Were Here
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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:
Simpson’s white Bronco along its slow-speed freeway escape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
The 101 has long been a bottleneck nightmare as it approaches Santa Barbara and the yearslong project to widen the freeway has only made it worse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The round house is one of seven residences on a 2.25-acre site next to the freeway.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
A man sits with his belongings on Cahuenga Boulevard under the 101 freeway in Hollywood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Secondhand cars left us hitchhiking on the side of the freeway.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
Potential compromises: Because there are no major freeways, traffic on surface streets is often quite congested.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
There’s also a mill — a 40,000-square foot workshop space — a cafe, plenty of parking and quick access to area freeways.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
There were a few small banners on lamp posts along freeways and a few billboards but it felt like functional promotion rather than excitement.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Even the “beauty” of American trucks, big yellow school buses and eight-lane freeways have gotten their fair share of shout-outs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
Today I could not find my way around its newly built freeways, its thriving industrial complexes, its racially mixed, upscale suburban sprawl.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
