pedestrianize
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pedestrianizesimple
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pedestrianizessimple
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have pedestrianizedperfect
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has pedestrianizedperfect
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am pedestrianizingprogressive
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are pedestrianizingprogressive
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is pedestrianizingprogressive
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have been pedestrianizingperfect progressive
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has been pedestrianizingperfect progressive
Past
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pedestrianizedsimple
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had pedestrianizedperfect
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was pedestrianizingprogressive
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were pedestrianizingprogressive
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had been pedestrianizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pedestrianize
First recorded in 1805–15; pedestrian + -ize
Explanation
To pedestrianize is to close a street to cars and make it safer and more appealing for walking. After the city pedestrianized Main Street, there was more room for outdoor dining. When a city or town pedestrianizes an area, it takes a normal street and turns it into a car-free zone or pedestrian mall, a place where you can stroll or travel in a wheelchair without having to look both ways for speeding vehicles. The relatively new word pedestrianize takes pedestrian, from the Latin pes, or "foot," and adds -ize, a suffix that's useful for turning a noun into a verb.
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.
See Examples For:
At this point, you may be thinking: Is this the best way to decide whether or not to permanently pedestrianize one-and-a-half miles of road in a park?
From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2022
But we can do a lot more than pedestrianize roads.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 24, 2020
In Paris, Mayor Hidalgo described her effort to pedestrianize major arteries as an “almost philosophical project, which consists of seeing the city in another way than through the use of cars.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2016
Lawmakers voted the following day to pedestrianize the Seine's right bank, permanently closing a major traffic artery.
From Reuters ● Sep. 27, 2016
But if he would pedestrianize everywhere, London remained the walking ground of his heart.
From Life of Charles Dickens by Marzials, Frank T. (Frank Thomas)
A ban on through traffic in the city center, including some pedestrianized areas.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2023
Hundreds of schoolchildren had lined a pedestrianized section of the town to meet Prince Charles and Camilla on Tuesday.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2022
At weekends, the Arc de Triomphe’s traffic-heavy roundabout will be entirely pedestrianized.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2021
There are 11 tables outside on a pedestrianized brick street at the Wharf, each seating two or four customers.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 14, 2020
And now there was a lobby to allow automobiles in the pedestrianized city center.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
They found that by pedestrianizing key streets with wide sidewalks, New York City and Paris could connect more sidewalks without adding much to the lengths of drivers’ trips.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 22, 2023
Flonneau argues that residents of neighboring cities deserve a say in the fate of major infrastructure—like pedestrianizing the Seine highway or scrapping half the capital’s parking spaces—and that Hidalgo should not rule alone.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2023
But he’s been hearing from constituents who want him to take on the question of permanently pedestrianizing streets.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 14, 2021
Both are right in the heart of Chinatown, and each is only one block long with narrow streets and lots of immigrant-owned businesses, so it made a lot of sense for pedestrianizing them.
From New York Times ● Jun. 4, 2021
If this is what you call pedestrianizing, I say, give me a good sidewalk or the loan of an uneven pair of legs.
From Two Knapsacks A Novel of Canadian Summer Life by Campbell, John
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.
