Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

metro

1 American  
[me-troh] / ˈmɛ troʊ /

noun

(often initial capital letter)

plural

metros

  1. the underground electric railway of Paris, France, Montreal, Canada, Washington, D.C., and other cities.

  2. subway.

metro 2 American  
[me-troh] / ˈmɛ troʊ /

adjective

  1. metropolitan.

noun

plural

metros

  1. metropolis.

  2. (often initial capital letter) the government or jurisdiction of a large city.

metro- 3 American  

  1. a combining form meaning “measure,” used in the formation of compound words.

    metronome.
metro- 4 American  

  1. a combining form meaning “uterus,” used in the formation of compound words.

    metrorrhagia.
metro- 5 American  

  1. a combining form representing metropolis or metropolitan in compound words.

    metroflight; metroland; Metroliner.
metro- 1 British  

combining form

  1. indicating the uterus

    metrorrhagia
"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
metro- 2 British  

combining form

  1. indicating a measure

    metronome
"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
metro 3 British  
/ ˈmɛtrəʊ, metro /

noun

  1. an underground, or largely underground, railway system in certain cities, esp in Europe, such as that in Paris

"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

Etymology

Origin of metro1

1900–05; < French métro, short for chemin de fer métropolitain metropolitan railroad

Origin of metro2

First recorded in 1900–05; by shortening; or independent use of metro- 3

Origin of metro-3

Combining form representing Greek métron measure

Origin of metro-4

Combining form representing Greek mḗtra womb

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.

He worked temp jobs and lived off dollar pizza while taking internships that might pay him in metro cards and free opening night food.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

The Kansas City metro area, with about 2.2 million residents, is the smallest of the 16 cities hosting in the U.S.,

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

More than two-thirds of metro areas in June 2025 had fewer listings than in 2019, before the pandemic supercharged housing and rising mortgage rates pushed buyers and sellers to the sidelines.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

Viewers in the New York metro area will also get Yankees games most Wednesday nights.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026

The entire state of Idaho had one area code; the Chicago metro area alone had three.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

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.