motorway

American  

[moh-ter-wey] / ˈmoʊ tərˌweɪ /

noun

British.

• motorways
  plural

1. an expressway.

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motorway British  

/ ˈməʊtəˌweɪ /

noun

1. US names: superhighway.   expressway.  a main road for fast-moving traffic, having limited access, separate carriageways for vehicles travelling in opposite directions, and usually a total of four or six lanes

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• motorways
  plural

Etymology

Origin of motorway

First recorded in 1900–05; motor + way ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

motorway motorways

"I told them about how I'd have to stop my car on the way home because I was being sick in the hedge and my car was all over the show on the motorway."

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

Footage shared online appeared to show protesters following the convoy of coaches along a motorway after it had left.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

It reports patients were given classes on how to deliver a baby on the side of the motorway, as the nearest maternity ward is nearly two hours away in Exeter.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

"Before entering the motorway he went through red lights," Lamb said.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Noon finds them picking their way through deadlocked traffic on a new motorway near Vaucresson, a full ten miles west of their apartment, as far from home as Marie-Laure has ever been.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

It involves reconnecting vital patches to create "insect motorways" to assist wildlife to move safely across the countryside, the charity said.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

But the gritty backdrop of late nights on English motorways made the league a perfect laboratory for Finch to experiment in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

Although blockades at fuel depots and Ireland's only oil refinery have been lifted, slow-moving convoys of large vehicles continued on motorways around Dublin on Monday morning.

From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026

Last week's protests grew from slow-moving convoys on motorways and restricted access to Dublin's busiest streets, to a part blockade of Ireland's only oil refinery and restricted access to at least two other fuel depots.

From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026

The major motorways that strike west from the capital bypass the county entirely; the trains from London Waterloo to the local station at Dorchester take a leisurely three hours.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026