terrace

American  

[ter-uhs] / ˈtɛr əs /

noun

1. a raised level with a vertical or sloping front or sides faced with masonry, turf, or the like, especially one of a series of levels rising one above another.

2. the top of such a construction, used as a platform, garden, road, etc.

3. a nearly level strip of land with a more or less abrupt descent along the margin of the sea, a lake, or a river.

4. the flat roof of a house.

5. an open, often paved area connected to a house or an apartment house and serving as an outdoor living area; deck.

6. an open platform, as projecting from the outside wall of an apartment; a large balcony.

7. a row of houses on or near the top of a slope.

8. a residential street following the top of a slope.

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verb (used with or without object)

terraced, terracing

1. to form into or furnish with a terrace or terraces.

terrace British  

/ ˈtɛrəs /

noun

1. a horizontal flat area of ground, often one of a series in a slope

2. 1. a row of houses, usually identical and having common dividing walls, or the street onto which they face

   2. ( cap when part of a street name )

      Grosvenor Terrace

3. a paved area alongside a building, serving partly as a garden

4. a balcony or patio

5. the flat roof of a house built in a Spanish or Oriental style

6. a flat area bounded by a short steep slope formed by the down-cutting of a river or by erosion

7. (usually plural)

   1. unroofed tiers around a football pitch on which the spectators stand

   2. the spectators themselves

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verb

1. (tr) to make into or provide with a terrace or terraces

Other Word Forms

• terraceless adjective
• unterraced adjective

Etymology

Origin of terrace

1505–15; earlier terrasse < Middle French < Old Provençal terrassa < Vulgar Latin *terrācea, feminine of *terrāceus. See terra, -aceous

Example Sentences

His customers appeared to appreciate the decision, with most tables full of young people on their laptops or chatting quietly in the shade of the roof terrace.

From BBC

“This mom was walking her little baby back and forth across the terrace, teaching her how to walk,” Chamberlain said, “and she’s giggling while there’s a car burning,”

From Los Angeles Times

It was a decision that shocked their friends - quitting life on a busy terraced street in London for rural Wales.

From BBC

She said Zack and she visited their lots recently, climbed the stairs of her under-construction home, and took in the view from a rooftop terrace.

From Los Angeles Times

"The entire terrace of the basilica will be accessible," compared with only one third of it today, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the Archpriest of the basilica, told a press conference.

From Barron's

Related Words

• balcony
• deck
• gallery
• patio
• platform
• porch
• promenade
• roof