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street - 6 dictionary results

street

  [street]
Use street in a Sentence
–noun
1. a public thoroughfare, usually paved, in a village, town, or city, including the sidewalk or sidewalks.
2. such a thoroughfare together with adjacent buildings, lots, etc.: Houses, lawns, and trees composed a very pleasant street.
3. the roadway of such a thoroughfare, as distinguished from the sidewalk: to cross a street.
4. a main way or thoroughfare, as distinguished from a lane, alley, or the like.
5. the inhabitants or frequenters of a street: The whole street gossiped about the new neighbors.
6. the Street, Informal.
a. the section of a city associated with a given profession or trade, esp. when concerned with business or finance, as Wall Street.
b. the principal theater and entertainment district of any of a number of U.S. cities.
–adjective
7. of, on, or adjoining a street: a street door just off the sidewalk.
8. taking place or appearing on the street: street fight; street musicians.
9. coarse; crude; vulgar: street language.
10. suitable for everyday wear: street clothes; street dress.
11. retail: the street price of a new computer; the street value of a drug.
—Idioms
12. on or in the street,
a. without a home: You'll be out on the street if the rent isn't paid.
b. without a job or occupation; idle.
c. out of prison or police custody; at liberty.
13. up one's street, British. alley 1 (def. 7).
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE strēt, strǣt; c. D straat, G Strasse; all ≪ L (via) strāta paved (road); see stratum

Related forms:
streetless, adjective
streetlike, adjective

Synonyms:
1. roadway, concourse. Street, alley, avenue, boulevard all refer to public ways or roads in municipal areas. A street is a road in a village, town, or city, esp. a road lined with buildings. An alley is a narrow street or footway, esp. at the rear of or between rows of buildings or lots. An avenue is properly a prominent street, often one bordered by fine residences and impressive buildings, or with a row of trees on each side. A boulevard is a beautiful, broad street, lined with rows of stately trees, esp. used as a promenade. In some cities street and avenue are used interchangeably, the only difference being that those running one direction (say, north and south) are given one designation and those crossing them are given the other.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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street   (strēt)   
n.  
    1. Abbr. St. A public way or thoroughfare in a city or town, usually with a sidewalk or sidewalks.
    2. Such a public way considered apart from the sidewalks: Don't play in the street.
    3. A public way or road along with the houses or buildings abutting it: lives on a quiet street.
  2. The people living, working, or habitually gathering in or along a street: The whole street protested the new parking regulations.
  3. Street A district, such as Wall Street in New York City, that is identified with a specific profession. Often used with the.
  4. The streets of a city viewed as the scene of crime, poverty, or dereliction.
  5. The common public viewed as a repository of public attitudes and understanding.
adj.  
  1. Near or giving passage to a street: a street door.
    1. Taking place in the street: a street brawl; street crime.
    2. Living or making a living on the streets: street people; a street vendor.
    3. Performing on the street: street musicians; a street juggler.
    4. Crude; vulgar: street language; street humor.
  3. Appropriate for wear or use in public: street clothes.

[Middle English strete, from Old English strǣt, strēt, from Late Latin strāta, paved road, from Latin, feminine past participle of sternere, to stretch, extend, pave; see ster-2 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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Street

Street\ (str[=e]t), n. [OE. strete, AS. str[=ae]t, fr. L. strata (sc. via) a paved way, properly fem. p. p. of sternere, stratum, to spread; akin to E. strew. See Strew, and cf. Stratum, Stray, v. & a.] Originally, a paved way or road; a public highway; now commonly, a thoroughfare in a city or village, bordered by dwellings or business houses.

He removed [the body of] Amasa from the street unto the field. --Coverdale.

At home or through the high street passing. --Milton.

Note: In an extended sense, street designates besides the roadway, the walks, houses, shops, etc., which border the thoroughfare.

His deserted mansion in Duke Street. --Macaulay.

The street (Broker's Cant), that thoroughfare of a city where the leading bankers and brokers do business; also, figuratively, those who do business there; as, the street would not take the bonds.

Street Arab, Street broker, etc. See under Arab, Broker, etc.

Street door, a door which opens upon a street, or is nearest the street.

Syn: See Way.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : street
Spanish: calle,
German: die Straße,
Japanese: 通り
More Translations »

street 
O.E. stret (Mercian), stræt (W.Saxon), early W.Gmc. borrowing from L.L. strata, used elliptically for via strata "paved road," from fem. pp. of L. sternere "lay down, spread out, pave," from PIE *stre-to- "to stretch, extend," from base *stere- "to spread, extend, stretch out" (see structure). The Latin is also the source of Sp. estrada, O.Fr. estrée, It. strada. Originally of Roman roads (Watling Street, Icknield Street, etc.), later in O.E. it acquired a dialectal sense of "straggling village." "In the Middle Ages, a road or way was merely a direction in which people rode or went, the name street being reserved for the made road." [Weekley] Used since c.1400 to mean "the people in the street;" modern sense of "the realm of the people as the source of political support" dates from 1931. Man in the street "ordinary person, non-expert" is attested from 1831. Street-car is attested from 1862. Street-walker "common prostitute" first recorded 1592. Street people is from 1967; street smarts is from 1972; street-credibility is from 1979.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Street

The street called "Straight" at Damascus (Acts 9:11) is "a long broad street, running from east to west, about a mile in length, and forming the principal thoroughfare in the city." In Oriental towns streets are usually narrow and irregular and filthy (Ps. 18:42; Isa. 10:6). "It is remarkable," says Porter, "that all the important cities of Palestine and Syria Samaria, Caesarea, Gerasa, Bozrah, Damascus, Palmyra, had their 'straight streets' running through the centre of the city, and lined with stately rows of columns. The most perfect now remaining are those of Palmyra and Gerasa, where long ranges of the columns still stand.", Through Samaria, etc.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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street

see back street; easy street; man in the street; on the street; side street; work both sides of the street.

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