street

American  

[street] / strit /

noun

• streets
  plural

1. a public thoroughfare, usually paved, in a village, town, or city, including the sidewalk or sidewalks.

   Synonyms:

   concourse, roadway

2. such a thoroughfare together with adjacent buildings, lots, etc..

   Houses, lawns, and trees composed a very pleasant street.

3. the roadway of such a thoroughfare, as distinguished from the sidewalk.

   to cross a street.

4. a main way or thoroughfare, as distinguished from a lane, alley, or the like.

5. the inhabitants or frequenters of a street.

   The whole street gossiped about the new neighbors.

6. Informal. the Street,

   1. the section of a city associated with a given profession or trade, especially when concerned with business or finance, as Wall Street.

   2. the principal theater and entertainment district of any of a number of U.S. cities.

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adjective

1. of, on, or adjoining a street.

   a street door just off the sidewalk.

2. taking place or appearing on the street.

   street fight; street musicians.

3. coarse; crude; vulgar.

   street language.

4. suitable for everyday wear.

   street clothes; street dress.

5. retail.

   the street price of a new computer; the street value of a drug.

idioms

1. on / in the street,

   1. without a home.

      You'll be out on the street if the rent isn't paid.

   2. without a job or occupation; idle.

   3. out of prison or police custody; at liberty.

2. up one's street, alley.

street British  

/ striːt /

noun

1. 1. (capital when part of a name) a public road that is usually lined with buildings, esp in a town

      Oxford Street

   2. ( as modifier )

      a street directory

2. the buildings lining a street

3. the part of the road between the pavements, used by vehicles

4. the people living, working, etc, in a particular street

5. (modifier) of or relating to the urban counterculture

   street style

   street drug

6. an ordinary or average citizen

7. 1. earning a living as a prostitute

   2. homeless

8. informal superior to, more advanced than, etc

9. informal markedly different

10. informal (just) what one knows or likes best

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verb

1. to outdistance

street More Idioms  

1. see back street; easy street; man in the street; on the street; side street; work both sides of the street.

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Synonym Usage

Street, alley, avenue, boulevard all refer to public ways or roads in municipal areas. A street is a road in a village, town, or city, especially a road lined with buildings. An alley is a narrow street or footway, especially at the rear of or between rows of buildings or lots. An avenue is properly a prominent street, often one bordered by fine residences and impressive buildings, or with a row of trees on each side. A boulevard is a beautiful, broad street, lined with rows of stately trees, especially used as a promenade. In some cities street and avenue are used interchangeably, the only difference being that those running one direction (say, north and south) are given one designation and those crossing them are given the other.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interstreet
  adjective
• streetless
  adjective
• streetlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• streets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of street

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English strēt, strǣt; cognate with Dutch straat, German Strasse; all ultimately from Latin (via) strāta “paved (road)”; see stratum

Explanation

A street is a paved road with houses or buildings along the side. Cars, buses, bikes, and motorcycles travel in the street, while pedestrians use the sidewalk. The street is what you drive a car on, but the word can also refer more generally to the neighborhood around the street, as in street theater or street fashion. And it can also mean a slightly dangerous, crime-filled environment: "It's rough out there on the street." In Old English, the word was stret, from the Late Latin phrase via strata or "paved road."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

street streets

The department halted multiple ongoing projects for “being hostile to vehicles” and ended a grant that would have made a street intersection in Boston safer for pedestrians but could “impede vehicle capacity and speed.”

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

The paper adds the council wants all routes apart from A-roads to become 20mph zones to ensure that "cars no longer dominate street life".

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

After taking up comedy classes and street performances on the East Coast, Zucker quickly transitioned to working in theater and eventually moved to L.A. at 18 to pursue comedy, interning at Upright Citizens Brigade.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Driving through Dunwoody with a Journal reporter, Len Phillips, an IT professional who formed DeFlock’s Atlanta chapter in December, stopped on a residential street to verify a location.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Headlights appeared at the far end of the long street, wavering over the snow.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Driven by a postpandemic influx of ultra-high-net-worth buyers, developers are equipping new luxury towers with rooftop helipads and deep-water docks—allowing residents to bypass Miami’s increasingly congested streets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Moreover, he’s a chess-playing, gourmet cooking, crime fiction aficionado and jazz lover equally comfortable on the mean streets of East Daygo and in the lush life of La Jolla Farms estates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

In dusty streets teeming with men in camouflage and scattered with wrecked military vehicles she scours for scenes of normality to post on the city social media pages.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Potential compromises: Because there are no major freeways, traffic on surface streets is often quite congested.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

So they, like the rest of us, have to know which streets they can go down and which ones to avoid.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Related Words

• avenue
• boulevard
• court
• highway
• lane
• pavement
• place
• road
• roadway
• route
• thoroughfare
• track
• trail