street

[street]

|||

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR street ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

such a thoroughfare together with adjacent buildings, lots, etc.: Houses, lawns, and trees composed a very pleasant street.

the roadway of such a thoroughfare, as distinguished from the sidewalk: to cross a street.

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

the inhabitants or frequenters of a street: The whole street gossiped about the new neighbors.

the Street, Informal.

the section of a city associated with a given profession or trade, especially when concerned with business or finance, as Wall Street.
the principal theater and entertainment district of any of a number of U.S. cities.

adjective

of, on, or adjoining a street: a street door just off the sidewalk.

taking place or appearing on the street: street fight; street musicians.

coarse; crude; vulgar: street language.

suitable for everyday wear: street clothes; street dress.

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

Idioms

on/in the street,

without a home: You'll be out on the street if the rent isn't paid.
without a job or occupation; idle.
out of prison or police custody; at liberty.

up one's street, British. alley¹(def 7).

Origin of street

before 900; Middle English; Old English strēt, strǣt; cognate with Dutch straat, German Strasse; all ≪ Latin (via) strāta paved (road); see stratum

Related formsstreet·less, adjectivestreet·like, adjectivein·ter·street, adjective

Synonyms for street

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR street ON THESAURUS.COM

1. roadway, concourse. 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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for street

roadway, lane, boulevard, court, thoroughfare, track, route, trail, pavement, place, road, avenue, highway, drive, passage, drag, terrace, way, turf, artery

Examples from the Web for street

Contemporary Examples of street

A street sweeper was caught in the crossfire as a gunman fired at the officer, fatally wounding her in the back.
France Mourns—and Hunts
Nico Hines, Christopher Dickey
January 8, 2015
When it became too crowded, they moved her into an open casket on the street.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion
Nina Strochlic
January 8, 2015
The gunman then burst from the restaurant and fled down the street with the other man.
Shot Down During the NYPD Slowdown
Michael Daly
January 7, 2015
The big slug happened to hit the suspect in the street, passing through his arm and then striking Police Officer Andrew Dossi.
Shot Down During the NYPD Slowdown
Michael Daly
January 7, 2015
Detectives with a fugitive task force caught up with Polanco and a friend on a Bronx street in the early afternoon.
Shot Down During the NYPD Slowdown
Michael Daly
January 7, 2015

Historical Examples of street

Sorely distressed, he walked back to his lodgings in Thirty-second Street.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
“I would not be seen in the street with that scarecrow,” murmured Giles.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
Mrs. Bines had never seen so many children as flooded this street.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
And then by a street sign she saw that she was near the home of Philippe.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
At Thirty-second Street he ran into Burman, with whom he had all but cornered wheat.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for street

street

noun

(capital when part of a name)a public road that is usually lined with buildings, esp in a townOxford Street
(as modifier)a street directory

the buildings lining a street

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

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

(modifier) of or relating to the urban counterculturestreet style; street drug

man in the street an ordinary or average citizen

on the streets

earning a living as a prostitute
homeless

streets ahead of informal superior to, more advanced than, etc

streets apart informal markedly different

up one's street or right up one's street informal (just) what one knows or likes best

verb (tr)

Australian to outdistance

Word Origin for street

Old English strǣt, from Latin via strāta paved way (strāta, from strātus, past participle of sternere to stretch out); compare Old Frisian strēte, Old High German strāza; see stratus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for street

Old English stret (Mercian, Kentish), stræt (West Saxon) "street, high road," an early West Germanic borrowing from Late Latin strata, used elliptically for via strata "paved road," from fem. past participle of Latin sternere "lay down, spread out, pave," from PIE *stre-to- "to stretch, extend," from root *stere- "to spread, extend, stretch out" (see structure (n.)). The Latin is also the source of Spanish estrada, Old French estrée, Italian strada.

"The normal term in OE for a paved way or Roman road, later extended to other roads, urban streets, and in SE dialects to a street of dwellings, a straggling village or hamlet" [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names]. Originally of Roman roads (e.g. Watling Street, Icknield Street). "In the Middle Ages, a road or way was merely a direction in which people rode or went, the name street being reserved for the made road." [Weekley] Used since c.1400 to mean "the people in the street;" modern sense of "the realm of the people as the source of political support" dates from 1931. Man in the street "ordinary person, non-expert" is attested from 1831. Street people "the homeless" is from 1967; street smarts is from 1972; street-credibility is from 1979.

Idioms and Phrases with street

street

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