motel

[ moh-tel ]

/ moʊˈtɛl /

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noun

a hotel providing travelers with lodging and free parking facilities, typically a roadside hotel having rooms adjacent to an outside parking area or an urban hotel offering parking within the building.

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Also called motor court, motor inn, motor lodge .

Origin of motel

First recorded in 1920–25; blend of motor and hotel

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH motel

hostel, hotel, motel

Words nearby motel

Mosul, Moszkowski, mot, Motagua, mote, motel, mote spoon, motet, moth, mothball, mothballs

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use motel in a sentence

She tried to use an app on her phone to translate, but a minute later the man steered into the lot of another motel.
Sex-trafficked kids are crime victims. In Las Vegas, they still go to jail.|Jessica Contrera|August 26, 2021|Washington Post
The most recent, “Rip Crew,” centers on the exploits of Valentine Pescatore, a former Border Patrol agent asked to look into a mysterious massacre of migrant women in a motel room.
Revisiting “The Year of the Spy”|by Stephen Engelberg|July 28, 2021|ProPublica
The drive is mostly grain silos and fast food signs and a bunch of tiny towns that are pretty much the same, all equipped with a highway-side motel that’d make a good place to get shot.
The ballad of the Chowchilla bus kidnapping|Kaleb Horton|July 23, 2021|Vox
His mother was a model, and his father worked in motel and restaurant management.
Robert Downey Sr., provocative underground filmmaker, dies at 85|Harrison Smith|July 8, 2021|Washington Post

He has entry and exit records at the airport nearest to me, and told me what motel he stayed at when he was trying to find me in San Francisco.
Why it’s so hard to make tech more diverse|Wudan Yan|June 30, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Such a woman would be much more difficult to catch unawares than a teenage escort trapped in a motel room.
Indiana Serial Killer’s Confession Was Just the Start|Michael Daly|October 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Cunningham and a male friend went to the motel and entered the room.
Indiana Serial Killer’s Confession Was Just the Start|Michael Daly|October 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We were finishing steaks at a motel dining room, washing them down with beer, when the waitress could stand it no longer.
Football Great Bob Suffridge Wanders Through the End Zone of Life|Paul Hemphill|September 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He is said by investigators to have acknowledged going with Simonson to a motel in Rochester, Minnesota.
How ‘MrHandcuffs’ Ended Up With Two Corpses in Suitcases|Michael Daly|June 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The woman left the motel and went to a Panorama City 7-Eleven, where she called the police.
More Bad News for Uber: Driver Arrested in Los Angeles Rape Case|Olivia Nuzzi|June 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I dressed hastily, and as I pulled my clothing on I took a slow dig at the other cabins in the motel.
Highways in Hiding|George Oliver Smith
They opened up the motel so we would have a place to spend the night in the lobby and some of the rooms.
The Biography of a Rabbit|Roy Benson
Actually, the spotel business isn't much different from running a plain, ordinary motel back on Highway 101 in California.
The Love of Frank Nineteen|David Carpenter Knight
Like I said, the spotel business isn't so different from the motel game back in California.
The Love of Frank Nineteen|David Carpenter Knight
My impression was that he didn't have money to pay for the trip or the motel or anything.
Warren Commission (8 of 26): Hearings Vol. VIII (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

British Dictionary definitions for motel

motel

/ (məʊˈtɛl) /

noun

a roadside hotel for motorists, usually having direct access from each room or chalet to a parking space or garage

Word Origin for motel

C20: from motor + hotel

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

motel

COMPARE MEANINGS

Origin of motel

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH motel

Words nearby motel

Words related to motel

How to use motel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for motel

Word Origin for motel