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• lane
  lane

  noun

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

  noun

  a male given name.

lane

¹ American  

[leyn] / leɪn /

noun

• lanes
  plural

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

   Synonyms:

   alley

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

3. 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.

4. a fixed route followed by ocean steamers or airplanes.

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

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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. (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.

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lane ² American  

[leyn] / leɪn /

adjective

1. lone.

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idioms

1. by one's lane. lonesome.

Lane ³ American  

[leyn] / leɪn /

noun

1. a male given name.

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lane ¹ British  

/ leɪn /

noun

1. 1. a narrow road or way between buildings, hedges, fences, etc

   2. ( capital as part of a street name )

      Drury Lane

2. 1. any of the parallel strips into which the carriageway of a major road or motorway is divided

   2. any narrow well-defined route or course for ships or aircraft

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

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

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lane ² British  

/ leɪn /

adjective

1. lone or alone

2. on one's own

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lane More Idioms  

1. see fast lane; lovers' lane.

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Synonym Usage

See path.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lanes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lane

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

Explanation

A lane is a relatively narrow street or road. Most country lanes never get backed up with rush hour traffic. There's the kind of lane that meanders through wooded, hilly countryside, and then there's the lane that's one particular row of traffic on the a busier road. This second kind of lane is sometimes just one of many options, like on an eight-lane highway. You might also choose a lane in a swimming pool, if you swim competitively or among many lap swimmers.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lane Lane lanes

I think they are satisfied with maintaining the blockade and with allowing some periodic targeting against Iran's capability to upset the shipping lane in the strait.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

I’ve seen many travelers turned away, either because it wasn’t on their boarding pass or they hadn’t signed up and thought it was the regular TSA PreCheck lane.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Even after a lane has been cleared, U.S. and allied forces have to prevent Iranian forces from slipping through and laying new mines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Bass’s office previously said the new plans would create a protected bike lane without the elimination of a lane.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

When a fire spread, it could take down a whole lane.

From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm

It was the maddest the sport had gotten in ages at anything that didn’t involve Lane Kiffin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

And, once again, Lane Kiffin vs. the world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

About 70,000 pints worth of the stout, estimated to be worth £115,000, were taken from Whitehouse Industrial Estate on Aston Lane in Runcorn on Monday, Cheshire Police said.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

On a rainy Monday night during a town hall event led by Greenpeace Australia Pacific at the Lane Cove library, locals say they were never consulted on their area becoming a data centre hub.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Manners forgotten, she pushed and elbowed her way through the lobby doors and stood on Drury Lane, frantically calling, “Children! Where are you?”

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

That night some of them stormed a major highway, closing lanes of traffic to demand a response from state authorities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026

But as of 6 p.m., two lanes of the northbound Glendale Freeway were still closed, as were the York Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard northbound on-ramps.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Washington said its forces attacked Iranian rocket launchers on the island of Larak on Sunday to prevent Tehran from planting mines in the strait's key shipping lanes.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

I didn’t want to add to my collection of side mirrors, so I kept to the lanes, mostly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

He raced along Oxford Road, the lanes empty, no other cars out.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Related Words

• artery
• avenue
• boulevard
• expressway
• highway
• pathway
• roadway
• route
• street
• thoroughfare