turnpike

American  

[turn-pahyk] / ˈtɜrnˌpaɪk /

noun

• turnpikes
  plural

1. a high-speed highway, especially one maintained by tolls.

2. (formerly) a barrier set across such a highway to stop passage until a toll has been paid; tollgate.

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turnpike British  

/ ˈtɜːnˌpaɪk /

noun

1. 1. gates or some other barrier set across a road to prevent passage until a toll had been paid

   2. a road on which a turnpike was operated

2. an obsolete word for turnstile

3. a motorway for use of which a toll is charged

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• turnpikes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of turnpike

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English turnepike “road barrier” ( turnpike in def. 1, short for turnpike road ). See turn, pike ²

Explanation

A turnpike is a busy road that charges users a fee to drive on it. If you drive through a toll booth, you know you're on a turnpike. You can also call a turnpike a toll road because drivers have to pay a toll, usually when they exit, but sometimes also when they first enter the turnpike. This kind of pay-to-use road existed even before cars were invented. Today's turnpikes typically have toll plazas or booths, or special lanes equipped to collect tolls electronically. Highways that are free to use are called freeways or expressways.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

turnpike turnpikes

“For comparison purposes, consider the old toll booth approach at the tollway or turnpike 30 years ago versus the Zip Cash or Toll Tag systems we see today,” Fleming says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

"He was driving along the New Jersey turnpike when it came on his car radio," said Love.

From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2024

The bugs are still so plentiful, the trained eye can spot them clinging to the trunks of tree of heaven while driving on the turnpike.

From National Geographic ● Aug. 31, 2023

In addition to carrying traffic into Manhattan, the turnpike is, like Route 710 in Los Angeles, an artery heavily trafficked by freight trucks carrying goods between ports and warehouses in the area.

From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2023

When the signs on the turnpike started telling us we were coming to Charleston, Cletus became so fidgety that at first I thought we’d better find a filling station, and fast.

From "Missing May" by Cynthia Rylant

Internal improvements, like roads and turnpikes, received investment to control the vast territory beyond the coasts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2025

Like Gump, a good-hearted simpleton, who travels through milestones in US history - the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal - Chaddha's life takes him through the cultural and political turnpikes of 20th-Century India.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2022

In the 19th century, every state delegated eminent domain power to private companies to produce what were then called “internal improvements” — canals, turnpikes, railroads.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 18, 2020

The Triboro Bridge, the Hudson River tunnels, the whole subway system, the turnpikes of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio: all built with bonds backed by tolls.

From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2018

They didn’t have the turnpikes then; the bus stopped at what seemed every comer and cowpatch.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Related Words

• expressway
• freeway
• interstate
• roadway
• state highway
• superhighway