turnpike
Americannoun
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a high-speed highway, especially one maintained by tolls.
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(formerly) a barrier set across such a highway to stop passage until a toll has been paid; tollgate.
noun
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gates or some other barrier set across a road to prevent passage until a toll had been paid
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a road on which a turnpike was operated
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an obsolete word for turnstile
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a motorway for use of which a toll is charged
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing turnpike
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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.
“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
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
Fragmented views of New Jersey’s skylines, shipping ports, salt marshes and infrastructure, like its infamous turnpike, conflate and realign in dizzying mosaics.
From New York Times • Nov. 14, 2022
It took multiple trail work seasons to complete the turnpike job, which required transporting gravel and wood by hand from as far as three-quarters of a mile away, not to mention lots of digging.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2022
Crossing the turnpike from the Texaco—a feat that, performed on foot, demands both speed and nerve—brings you to more substantial sources of sustenance, including a Pizza Hut and a Shop-n-Save.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
