ROAD

road

(noun) a way or means to achieve something; “the road to fame”

road, route

(noun) an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

road (plural roads)

A way used for travelling between places, originally one wide enough to allow foot passengers and horses to travel, now (US) usually one surfaced with asphalt or concrete and designed to accommodate many vehicles travelling in both directions. In the UK both senses are heard: a country road is the same as a country lane. [from 16th c.]

A road; or particularly a car, as a means of transportation.

(figuratively) A path chosen in life or career. [from 17th c.]

An underground tunnel in a mine. [from 18th c.]

(US, railroads) A railway or (UK, railroads) a single railway track. [from 19th c.]

(obsolete) The act of riding on horseback. [9th-17th c.]

(obsolete) A hostile ride against a particular area; a raid. [9th-19th c.]

(nautical, often, in the plural) A partly sheltered area of water near a shore in which vessels may ride at anchor; a roadstead. [from 14th c.]

(obsolete) A journey, or stage of a journey.

A way or route.

Usage notes

Often used interchangeably with street or other similar words. When usage is distinguished, a road is a route between settlements (reflecting the etymological relation with ride), as in the Great North Road from London to Edinburgh, while a street is a route within a settlement (city or town), strictly speaking paved.

Hyponyms

• See also road

Adjective

road (not comparable)

(US, Canada, sports, chiefly, attributive) At the venue of the opposing team or competitor; on the road.

(UK, Slang) Having attributes, primarily masculine, suggesting a tendency towards minor crime. Usually used by youths endearingly; glorifying crime.

Synonyms

• (at the venue of the opposing team or competitor): away (UK)

Anagrams

• A-Rod, Dora, Rado, orad, orda

Source: Wiktionary

Road, n. Etym: [AS. rad a riding, that on which one rides or travels, a road, fr. ridan 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. Etym: [Possibly akin to Icel. reithi the rigging of a ship, E. ready.]

Definition: 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 (Zoöl.), 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition