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road - 6 dictionary results

road

  [rohd]
Use road in a Sentence
–noun
1. a long, narrow stretch with a smoothed or paved surface, made for traveling by motor vehicle, carriage, etc., between two or more points; street or highway.
2. a way or course: the road to peace.
3. a railroad.
4. Often, roads. Also called roadstead. Nautical. a partly sheltered area of water near a shore in which vessels may ride at anchor.
5. Mining. any tunnel in a mine used for hauling.
6. the road, the places, usually outside of New York City, at which theatrical companies on tour generally give performances.
—Idioms
7. burn up the road, Slang. to drive or move very fast.
8. down the road, in the future: Economists see higher interest rates down the road.
9. hit the road, Slang. to begin or resume traveling: We hit the road before sunrise.
10. one for the road, a final alcoholic drink taken just before departing from a party, tavern, or the like.
11. on the road,
a. traveling, esp. as a sales representative.
b. on tour, as a theatrical company: The musical ends its New York run next week to go on the road.
c. started; under way: We need funds to get the project on the road.
12. take to the road, to begin a journey or tour. Also, take the road.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME rode, earlier rade, OE rād a riding, journey on horseback, akin to rīdan to ride

Related forms:
roadless, adjective
road⋅less⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To road
road   (rōd)   
n.  
    1. Abbr. Rd. An open, generally public way for the passage of vehicles, people, and animals.
    2. The surface of a road; a roadbed.
  2. A course or path: the road to riches.
  3. A railroad.
  4. Nautical A roadstead. Often used in the plural.

[Middle English rode, rade, a riding, road, from Old English rād; see reidh- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Road

Road\, n. [AS. r[=a]d a riding, that on which one rides or travels, a road, fr. r[=i]dan to ride. See Ride, and cf. Raid.]

1. A journey, or stage of a journey. [Obs.]

With easy roads he came to Leicester. --Shak.

2. An inroad; an invasion; a raid. [Obs.] --Spenser.

3. A place where one may ride; an open way or public passage for vehicles, persons, and animals; a track for travel, forming a means of communication between one city, town, or place, and another.

The most villainous house in all the London road. --Shak.

Note: The word is generally applied to highways, and as a generic term it includes highway, street, and lane.

4. [Possibly akin to Icel. rei[eth]i the rigging of a ship, E. ready.] A place where ships may ride at anchor at some distance from the shore; a roadstead; -- often in the plural; as, Hampton Roads. --Shak.

Now strike your saile, ye jolly mariners, For we be come unto a quiet rode [road]. --Spenser.

On, or Upon, the road, traveling or passing over a road; coming or going; on the way.

My hat and wig will soon be here, They are upon the road. --Cowper.

Road agent, a highwayman, especially on the stage routes of the unsettled western parts of the United States; -- a humorous euphemism. [Western U.S.]

The highway robber -- road agent he is quaintly called. --The century.

Road book, a quidebook in respect to roads and distances.

Road metal, the broken, stone used in macadamizing roads.

Road roller, a heavy roller, or combinations of rollers, for making earth, macadam, or concrete roads smooth and compact. -- often driven by steam.

Road runner (Zo["o]l.), the chaparral cock.

Road steamer, a locomotive engine adapted to running on common roads.

To go on the road, to engage in the business of a commercial traveler. [Colloq.]

To take the road, to begin or engage in traveling.

To take to the road, to engage in robbery upon the highways.

Syn: Way; highway; street; lane; pathway; route; passage; course. See Way.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : road
Spanish: camino; carreera,
German: die Straße; Straßen-…,
Japanese: 道路
More Translations »

road 
O.E. rad "riding, hostile incursion," from P.Gmc. *ridanan, source of O.E. ridan (see ride). Also related to raid. In M.E., "a riding, a journey," sense of "open way for traveling between two places" is first recorded 1596. Modern spelling only established 18c. Roadblock is attested from 1940. Roadster "open two-seat automobile" is from 1908, earlier of light carriages (1892), originally "a ship lying near the shore" (1744), which is from the nautical sense of "narrow stretch of sheltered water" (c.1320, cf. Hampton Roads in Virginia). Road test is from 1906. Road hog is attested from 1891; road rage is from 1988; roadie "laborer employed by pop groups while on tour" first recorded 1969; road kill (n.) in the figurative sense is from 1992.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Road

(1 Sam. 27:10; R.V., "raid"), an inroad, an incursion. This word is never used in Scripture in the sense of a way or path.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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road

In addition to the idioms beginning with road, also see all roads lead to Rome; down the line (road); end of the line (road); get the show on the road; hit the road; one for the road; on the road.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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