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motorway

American  
[moh-ter-wey] / ˈmoʊ tərˌweɪ /

noun

British.

  1. an expressway.

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

"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 motorway

First recorded in 1900–05; motor + way 1

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.

A van driver who killed the passenger of a broken-down car on a smart motorway where the safety alert system was malfunctioning has been given a suspended sentence.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

Last month, Spears was reported to authorities for driving her BMW "erratically at a high rate of speed" on a motorway, California Highway Patrol said.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

The M50 northbound is closed at the M1/M50 interchange, with the motorway also closed southbound at the same interchange and as far as Junction 4 - Ballymun.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

A new junction providing better access to the M5 motorway is expected to be finished in 2029.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

“Thank you, Michael,” Uncle Brian said mewily, “but I'm not really a great 'fan' of motorway driving.”

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

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.