Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. A place where pedestrians are permitted to or advised to cross a street.
WordNet
n. street crossing where pedestrians have right of way; often marked in some way especially with diagonal stripes [syn: zebra crossing]
Wikipedia
A pedestrian crossing or crosswalk is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road. Crosswalks are designed to keep pedestrians together where they can be seen by motorists, and where they can cross most safely across the flow of vehicular traffic.
Marked pedestrian crossings are often found at intersections, but may also be at other points on busy roads that would otherwise be too unsafe to cross without assistance due to vehicle numbers, speed or road widths. They are also commonly installed where large numbers of pedestrians are attempting to cross (such as in shopping areas) or where vulnerable road users (such as school children) regularly cross. Rules govern usage of the pedestrian crossings to ensure safety; for example, in some areas, the pedestrian must be more than halfway across the crosswalk before the driver proceeds.
Signalised pedestrian crossings clearly separate when each type of traffic (pedestrians or road vehicles) can use the crossing. Unsignalized crossings generally assist pedestrians, and usually prioritise pedestrians, depending on the locality. What appear to be just pedestrian crossings can also be created largely as a traffic calming technique, especially when combined with other features like pedestrian priority, refuge islands, or raised surfaces.
Usage examples of "pedestrian crossing".
She was walking away from me, putting her Tibetan hat on, heading across the pedestrian crossing.
A couple of cars had halted at the pedestrian crossing and a woman in a headscarf was half-way across pushing a pram in front of her, a little girl of five or six trotting beside her.
A tiny pool of darkness seemed to well round the sole of his shoe as he watched, and he looked stupidly back to the gutter and the pedestrian crossing, convinced he could see the betraying spots.
I watched him branch right from the exit and stand at the pedestrian crossing, intending to head for the metal footbridge over the five-way road intersection to the railway station.
As he reached the pedestrian crossing, two cars that had been sitting by the pavement suddenly turned on their flashing hazard lights and slewed themselves across the road, causing approaching traffic to halt.
But I got turned around underground, and instead of coming out in the Barrier, I ended up coming out a port in the pedestrian crossing under the Channel Highway.
I've done everything I possibly can, Sam defended herself, as she waited at the pedestrian crossing.
One who spends all day loafing about near pedestrian crossing looking as if he's about to cross.
We go wailing across the red lights at Tollcross, snarling traffic up in all directions, take the right-turn lane heading up Home Street, dodge a little old lady on the pedestrian crossing at Bruntsfield and scream down Colinton Road through thinning traffic.