motorway

American  

[moh-ter-wey] / ˈmoʊ tərˌweɪ /

noun

British.

motorways plural

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

---

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

What it's like to have a motorway in your garden?

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

"It's convenient because the motorway covers the back half of the garden so I've a dry area and it acts as my sunshade, which has been handy in recent weeks."

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

The former CEO of Italy's motorway operator is among 32 people found guilty over the August 2018 collapse of Genoa's Morandi bridge in a trial.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

The fire closed the A6 motorway that leads out of Paris to the southeast and parts of the highway remained closed Monday, according to Google Maps.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

If the Earth moves, why isn’t there a constant gale of wind blowing past, like the wind in your hair that rushes past if you are in an open-topped car travelling on a motorway?

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

While it may be scant consolation for those in communties around old urban motorways, bypasses like the one at Port Talbot are less likely to be built now.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 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

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

Demonstrators, many organising online outside of formal representative bodies, have also used convoys on motorways to snarl traffic and tractors to gridlock central Dublin on occasions.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

In the past, when growth slowed, Beijing built more apartments, motorways, factories and industrial parks - fuelling expansion through state investment, exports and a booming property market.

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026