lane

[ leyn ]

/ leɪn /

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noun

a narrow way or passage between hedges, fences, walls, or houses.

any narrow or well-defined passage, track, channel, or course.

a longitudinally marked part of a highway wide enough to accommodate one vehicle, often set off from adjacent lanes by painted lines (often used in combination): a new six-lane turnpike.

a fixed route followed by ocean steamers or airplanes.

(in a running or swimming race) the marked-off space or path within which a competitor must remain during the course of a race.

a long, narrow wooden track that a ball rolls down in a game of bowling.

an area of interest or expertise that is associated with a person or group whose contributions or authority in that area are respected: Teen magazines should stay in their lane and stick to publishing articles about relationships, style, and beauty.

Politics. an affiliation or faction that presents one path to nomination or election victory for candidates who espouse that ideology or embody its ideals: The libertarian candidates siphoned voters away from the conservative establishment lane in the primary.

(in a MOBA video game) one of the major arteries on the map between the two strongholds in which the fighting between characters occurs: Our strategy is to push with a support character in the top lane.

OTHER WORDS FOR lane

1 alley.

See synonyms for lane on Thesaurus.com

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True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

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Origin of lane

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch laan “avenue,” Old Norse lǫn “oblong hayrick, row of houses”

synonym study for lane

1. See path.

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH lane

lain, lane

Words nearby lane

Landwehr, land wind, land with, Landy, land yacht, lane, Lanfranc, lang, langar, langbeinite, Lange

Other definitions for lane (2 of 3)

lane²

[ leyn ]

/ leɪn /

Scot.

adjective

lone.

Other definitions for lane (3 of 3)

Lane

[ leyn ]

/ leɪn /

noun

a male given name.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lane in a sentence

Hawthorne Boulevard’s northbound lanes feature escape lanes on the right to help drivers who pick up too much speed coming down hill.
How Rolling Hills Estates residents woke up to the Tiger Woods crash: ‘Oh no, another one.’|Ben Golliver|February 26, 2021|Washington Post
All motorists benefit from HOT lanes, Townsend said, because those willing to pay tolls free up space in the free lanes.
Maryland reveals potential toll rates for proposed HOT lanes on Beltway, I-270|Katherine Shaver|February 26, 2021|Washington Post
Police said the car had started to slow for traffic in front of it that was trying to yield to the man running across the roadway, but the Honda hit him in the left lane of the highway.
Man struck and killed by car on Beltway in Maryland|Dana Hedgpeth|February 25, 2021|Washington Post
Back on flat ground, it was so slow, it was legitimately unsafe to pass in the oncoming lane.
How to Modify Your Tacoma the Right Way|Wes Siler|February 25, 2021|Outside Online

As robots evolve, we can release them from their fixed “lanes.”
Make way for robots|Katie McLean|February 24, 2021|MIT Technology Review
This week the Church of England named the Reverend Libby Lane as its first female bishop.
First Anglican Woman Bishop A Return to Christian Roots|Candida Moss|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Former cadet Lane said he only saw Jackson attempt to catch one of them.
Stonewall Jackson, VMI’s Most Embattled Professor|S. C. Gwynne|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Down a one-lane gravel road sits the house Burton left seven years ago.
Mrs. Manson, Hometown Antihero|Justin Glawe|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Robin Williams and Nathan Lane play lovers—life partners, really.
Out of the Birdcage: How Mike Nichols Made Gay Culture Mainstream|Kevin Fallon|November 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Cars swarm dangerously around them on this two-lane road carved, literally, into the side of a chain of mountains.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley|Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The order of meals at Lane End was somewhat peculiar even then, and would now be almost unique.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
The main entrance is in the centre of the St. Martin's Lane front, and consists of a central roadway for carts and wagons, 15ft.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
They walked silently down the lane together, Gilbert sullen and mortified, Dorothy pitying but resolute.
The World Before Them|Susanna Moodie
Water Street, formerly Water Lane, had a brook running down one side of it when houses were first built there.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
Mis' Calvert, she saw you in a lane, or somethin', and fetched you back to that Baltimore city where the both of you lived.
Dorothy at Skyrie|Evelyn Raymond

British Dictionary definitions for lane (1 of 2)

lane¹

/ (leɪn) /

noun

a narrow road or way between buildings, hedges, fences, etc
(capital as part of a street name)Drury Lane

any of the parallel strips into which the carriageway of a major road or motorway is divided
any narrow well-defined route or course for ships or aircraft

one of the parallel strips into which a running track or swimming bath is divided for races

the long strip of wooden flooring down which balls are bowled in a bowling alley

Word Origin for lane

Old English lane, lanu, of Germanic origin; related to Middle Dutch lāne lane

British Dictionary definitions for lane (2 of 2)

lane²

/ (leɪn) /

adjective Scot dialect

lone or alone

one's lane or on one's lane on one's own

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with lane

lane

see fast lane; lovers' lane.

lane

OTHER WORDS FOR lane

Origin of lane

synonym study for lane

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH lane

Words nearby lane

Other definitions for lane (2 of 3)

Other definitions for lane (3 of 3)

Words related to lane

How to use lane in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lane (1 of 2)

Word Origin for lane

British Dictionary definitions for lane (2 of 2)

Other Idioms and Phrases with lane