interstate
Americanadjective
noun
-
interstates
plural
-
a highway serving two or more states.
-
(sometimes initial capital letter) a highway that is part of the nationwide U.S. Interstate Highway System.
adjective
adverb
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of interstate
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How does interstate compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
If something is interstate, it happens between different U.S. states. For example, you can drive on Interstate 80 from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey. Yep, that's a trip. If you're driving from Rhode Island to Illinois, you can call it interstate travel, or an interstate road trip — you're going from state to state. An interstate highway connects different states together, like I-95, which is an east coast interstate highway that stretches from Maine to Florida. For short, you can call a road like this an interstate. This 20th century word combines inter-, "between," and state.
Vocabulary lists containing interstate
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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:
Way back in 1922, the interstate treaty governing its use allocated more water every year than the river can give.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
The U.S. passed legislation in the 1950s to substantially fund and expand the interstate highway system, boosting productivity, incomes and trade, including in regions where travel had been difficult.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
“Most of the people that travel the interstate have been in here. I mean, back in the heyday or whatever, we counted—one day, we had 86 people,” he bragged.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
Yaroch hasn’t been charged with stealing the cryptocurrency but with interstate transfer of stolen goods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Mother, Audrey and Emily picked me up at the airport in Salt Lake City, and together we skidded onto the interstate.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
It’s a breeze to get around, too, with access to major interstates, airports, passenger rail service, as well as water taxis and a bustling cruise ship boarding seaport.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2025
Or consider the fragmentary effects of America’s interstates, which throttle ecosystems and human communities alike.
From Slate ● May 25, 2024
“Even interstates will come to a halt when the eclipse is imminent,” the Eclipsophile analysis said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
The Claiborne Expressway was built in the 1960s, when the construction of interstates and highways was a symbol of progress and economic development in the U.S.
From Salon ● Mar. 18, 2024
I took my time going home, avoiding interstates in favor of back roads.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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.
