neighborhood

[ney-ber-hood]

noun

1. the area or region around or near some place or thing; vicinity.

   the kids of the neighborhood; located in the neighborhood of Jackson and Vine streets.

2. a district or locality, often with reference to its character or inhabitants.

   a fashionable neighborhood; to move to a nicer neighborhood.

   Synonyms: vicinity, locale, area, community

3. a number of persons living near one another or in a particular locality.

   The whole neighborhood was there.

4. neighborly feeling or conduct.

5. nearness; proximity.

   to sense the neighborhood of trouble.

6. Mathematics.,  an open set that contains a given point.

Word History and Origins

Origin of neighborhood¹

First recorded in 1400–50, neighborhood is from the late Middle English word neighborehode. See neighbor, -hood

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in the neighborhood of, approximately; nearly; about.

   She looks to be in the neighborhood of 70.

Example Sentences

In the years before his death, Munger involved himself in almost every aspect of their business—choosing neighborhoods, assessing construction, even picking paint colors.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Over the summer, several raids in the neighborhood sparked protests.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Edward shakes up the staid neighborhood because he’s a newcomer, an invader of sorts, into their calm, organized suburban bubble.

Read more on Salon

I’m grateful to everyone who reads and shares this tradition, through all your family games, neighborhood feuds, sprained ankles, surgically-repaired shoulders, weddings, graduations, funerals, babies and at least three confused Aaron Rodgers franchises.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“We know that when carjackings go down, when use of guns go down, when homicides or robberies go down, neighborhoods feel safer and are safer,” Bowser said in late August.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• area 
• block 
• district 
• parish 
• part 
• precinct 
• region 
• section 
• street 
• suburb 
• territory 
• zone