neighborhood

American  

[ney-ber-hood] / ˈneɪ bərˌhʊd /

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.

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idioms

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

   She looks to be in the neighborhood of 70.

Etymology

Origin of neighborhood

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

Explanation

Use the noun neighborhood when you're talking about a community within a town or city. Getting to know the people and places in your neighborhood can make you feel right at home in a city of millions. A neighborhood can be created by lines on a map that designate a district, or it can grow over time to become a neighborhood with a certain personality, based on who lives there. You can also use neighborhood to describe something nearby, like promising to visit a friend the next time you are in the neighborhood — or something that's approximate, like a restaurants whose burgers are in the neighborhood of ten dollars.

Example Sentences

Blank Street’s roots trace back to 2020, when co-founders Freiha and Vinay Menda began selling coffee out of a pale-green coffee cart in the Williamsburg neighborhood of New York City.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

There should be support in the general neighborhood of 6,600.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

There are two data center sites set for Sharp’s neighborhood in Wilmington, one of which is proposed by Amazon Web Services on about 500 acres of now-vacant farmland.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

Morgan Stanley forecasts a “diabesity” total addressable market in the neighborhood of $190 billion in 2035.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

According to my experience walking the neighborhood and some quick mental math, it should take Andre fifteen minutes to reach the store.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Related Words

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