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
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
Roger Hargreaves, director of Glossop Heritage Trust, said it was built as a turnpike - or toll road - to connect Sheffield with Manchester.
From BBC • Feb. 2, 2025
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
The first thing I thought about was the van that had broken down on the turnpike that morning.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
