terrace

[ ter-uhs ]
See synonyms for: terraceterraces on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a raised level with a vertical or sloping front or sides faced with masonry, turf, or the like, especially one of a series of levels rising one above another.

  2. the top of such a construction, used as a platform, garden, road, etc.

  1. a nearly level strip of land with a more or less abrupt descent along the margin of the sea, a lake, or a river.

  2. the flat roof of a house.

  3. an open, often paved area connected to a house or an apartment house and serving as an outdoor living area; deck.

  4. an open platform, as projecting from the outside wall of an apartment; a large balcony.

  5. a row of houses on or near the top of a slope.

  6. a residential street following the top of a slope.

verb (used with or without object),ter·raced, ter·rac·ing.
  1. to form into or furnish with a terrace or terraces.

Origin of terrace

1
1505–15; earlier terrasse<Middle French <Old Provençal terrassa<Vulgar Latin *terrācea, feminine of *terrāceus.See terra, -aceous

Other words from terrace

  • ter·race·less, adjective
  • un·ter·raced, adjective

Words Nearby terrace

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use terrace in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for terrace

terrace

/ (ˈtɛrəs) /


noun
  1. a horizontal flat area of ground, often one of a series in a slope

    • a row of houses, usually identical and having common dividing walls, or the street onto which they face

    • (cap when part of a street name): Grosvenor Terrace

  1. a paved area alongside a building, serving partly as a garden

  2. a balcony or patio

  3. the flat roof of a house built in a Spanish or Oriental style

  4. a flat area bounded by a short steep slope formed by the down-cutting of a river or by erosion

  5. (usually plural)

    • unroofed tiers around a football pitch on which the spectators stand

    • the spectators themselves

verb
  1. (tr) to make into or provide with a terrace or terraces

Origin of terrace

1
C16: from Old French terrasse, from Old Provençal terrassa pile of earth, from terra earth, from Latin

Derived forms of terrace

  • terraceless, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012