neighborhood

American  

[nay-ber-hood] / ˈneɪ bərˌhʊd /

noun

• neighborhoods
  plural

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.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• neighborhoods
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of neighborhood

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

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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

See Examples For:

neighborhood neighborhoods

Recently, my husband and I went to a brunch spot I love in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.

From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026

Joy’s yellow brick and white limestone home is located in the historic Strivers’ Row neighborhood, named for the culturally significant residents who have clustered there since the Harlem Renaissance in the early 1900s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

With distinct Gothic-style design details and appearances in many movies and TV shows, Los Feliz’s Shakespeare Bridge has become a prized neighborhood emblem.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Kristen Vanetsky and her family moved to Bend, Oregon, after a shooting in their New Mexico neighborhood, choosing Silver Rail elementary for her grandson because they considered it safer.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

But I’ve only lived in this neighborhood for ten days.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

The evacuation zones include a swath of hillside neighborhoods bordered by the 5 Freeway, Ortega Highway and Avenida La Pata.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

In Walton, a Liverpool suburb that ranks as one of Britain’s most deprived neighborhoods, around 1 in 2 households claim welfare, and 1 in 5 working-age residents claim PIP.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Meanwhile, shoes fitted with motion sensors could provide feedback as patients practice walking at home or around their neighborhoods.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

The result, Wallace said, was a span that eased connections between neighborhoods and “helped us become a community.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Over in the poor white neighborhoods of East Durham, just a mile from where Ann sat, the article about the fire did indeed stir considerable interest.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

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Related Words

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

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