thoroughfare
Americannoun
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a road, street, or the like, that leads at each end into another street.
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a major road or highway.
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a passage or way through.
no thoroughfare.
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a strait, river, or the like, affording passage.
noun
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a road from one place to another, esp a main road
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way through or access
no thoroughfare
Etymology
Origin of thoroughfare
First recorded in 1350–1400, thoroughfare is from the Middle English word thurghfare. See thorough, fare
Explanation
A thoroughfare is a public road that can get you from one place to another. When it snows, plows try to remove the snow from the thoroughfares so the school buses can take everyone to school. You’re welcome. This somewhat old-fashioned word has a very common meaning — a public road that goes from point A to point B. The word is made up of thorough, Old English for basically, “through” and fare for “journey.” (Fare also now means a payment, but not in thoroughfare.) If a road is private, like a driveway, it’s not a thoroughfare. This word often appears in the phrase "no thoroughfare," which means there isn't a public route available.
Vocabulary lists containing thoroughfare
Fahrenheit 451
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The Call of the Wild
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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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.
In those early years, Black men in livery—many descended from families once enslaved in the area—steered horse carriages down the main thoroughfare.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
A late-night operation also targeted the blockade of the capital Dublin's main thoroughfare O'Connell Street after multiple vehicles including tractors and lorries were removed.
From Barron's • Apr. 12, 2026
Iran agreed to reopen the vital thoroughfare during the two-week truce, but said it would maintain "dominion" over it.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
For activist Golshan Fathi, there was little sign of Nowruz on Gandhi Street, a commercial thoroughfare in north Tehran.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026
The thoroughfare onto which I tinned seemed innocuous enough at first, but after a time I noticed that each block was a bit more dismal-looking than the last.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
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.
