alley

up/down one's alley, Informal. in keeping with or satisfying one's abilities, interests, or tastes: If you like science fiction, this book will be right up your alley.

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Alley is always a great word to know.

So is bezoar. Does it mean:

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

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Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English al(e)y < Middle French alee walk, passage, derivative of feminine of ale, past participle of aler to walk (French aller), probably < Vulgar Latin *allārī, regularized from allātus, the suppletive past participle of afferre to bring (passive afferrī to be moved, conveyed, to betake oneself); French aller often allegedly < Latin ambulāre to walk (see amble), but this offers grave phonetic problems, since the m and b would not normally be lost

Synonyms
2. See street.

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun, plural al·leys. Chiefly Northeastern U.S.

a choice, large playing marble.

Origin:
1710–20; probably al(abaster) + -y², spelling to conform with alley¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To alley

Collins

World English Dictionary

alley¹ (ˈælɪ)

—n
1.	a narrow lane or passage, esp one between or behind buildings
2.	See bowling alley
3.	chiefly (US) tennis the space between the singles and doubles sidelines
4.	a walk in a park or garden, esp one lined with trees or bushes
5.	up one's alley, down one's alley See street

[C14: from Old French alee, from aler to go, ultimately from Latin ambulāre to walk]

alley² (ˈælɪ)

—n
	a large playing marble

[C18: shortened and changed from alabaster]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

alley

mid-14c., "passage in a house, covered way, walk in a garden," from O.Fr. alee (Mod.Fr. alée), from ale, fem. pp. of aler "to go," which ultimately may be a contraction of L. ambulare "to walk," or a back-formation from L. allatus "having been brought to." Applied c.1400 to "long narrow enclosure

for playing at bowls, skittles, etc." The meaning "passage between buildings" is from c.1510; the word also is applied in Amer.Eng. to what in London is called a mews. To be up someone's alley "in someone's neighborhood" (lit. or fig.) is from 1931; alley-cat first attested 1904.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

alley

In addition to the idiom beginning with alley, also see blind alley; right up one's alley.