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road
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
road
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a coast road
▪ In summer the coast road is very crowded.
a road bridge (=for cars)
▪ The government plans to construct a new road bridge to the island.
a road map
▪ a road map of Texas
a road race (=when people run, cycle etc on ordinary roads)
▪ She regularly competes in 10 kilometre road races.
a road tunnel
▪ a road tunnel through the mountains
a road/rail/air crash
▪ There will be an investigation into the cause of the air crash.
a road/traffic accident
▪ The number of traffic accidents has gone down.
▪ Portugal has one of Western Europe’s worst road accident rates.
a steep path/road
▪ She stood at the top of the steep path leading down to the beach.
access road
▪ the access road to the farm
approach road
▪ an approach road
be on the road to oblivion (=to be becoming forgotten or unimportant over a fairly long period of time)
▪ Is this ancient tradition on the road to oblivion?
be on the road to ruin (=be certain to happen at some time in the future)
▪ Is America on the road to ruin?
busy road
▪ We live on a very busy road.
by air/sea/land/road/rail etc
▪ All supplies are transported by air.
cross (over) the road/street/river etc
▪ It’s easy to have an accident just crossing the road.
▪ He was hit by a car when he tried to cross over the road near Euston station.
dirt road
divert a river/footpath/road etc
▪ Canals divert water from the Truckee River into the lake.
further down the road (=in the future)
▪ It might be a sign, much further down the road, of a change in policy.
(have) one for the road (=have one last alcoholic drink before you leave a place)
high road
▪ Daley has taken the high road in his campaign.
lonely place/road/spot etc
main road
▪ We live just off the main road.
narrow street/road/path etc
▪ a long narrow road
▪ the narrow passage between the cottage and the house
open road (=a road without traffic where you can drive fast)
▪ The car’s performance is good, especially going fast on the open road.
relief road
▪ an eastern relief road for city traffic
ring road
road atlas
▪ a road atlas of Europe
road casualties
▪ Our aim is to reduce road casualties.
road hog
road manager
road map
▪ a road map to the United States Constitution
road pricing
▪ road pricing schemes for congested cities
road rage
▪ Road rage seems to be on the increase.
road safety (=for people driving and walking on roads)
▪ Extra lighting would improve road safety in this area.
road sign
road tax
road test
▪ All our vehicles are roadtested before they are sold.
road transport
▪ Buses are the safest form of road transport in this country.
road trip
road users
▪ Did you signal to let other road users know you were turning right?
road warrior
rocky road
▪ The company faces a rocky road ahead.
side road
single track road
slip road
the rail/road system (=all the roads or railways in a country)
▪ Traffic problems are made worse by the country’s inadequate road system.
three-lane motorway/highway/road
toll road
trunk road
turn off the road/motorway etc
▪ Mark turned off the highway and into Provincetown.
well-trodden path/road/ground etc
▪ Andrew was on his well-trodden path to conquering another willing lady.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
back
▪ But once you're used to it the bike feels totally comfortable scratching through the twists and turns of back roads.
▪ That afternoon I drove nonstop over the back roads of Ames and Bern townships.
▪ She knew every mile of the back roads to Kells through Kilcock, Trim and Fordstown.
▪ A far better alternative was to walk the back roads and country lanes.
▪ But I slip down a couple of back roads and I find it soon enough.
▪ People always honk at me for that so I try to take the back roads.
▪ But don't get carried away with thoughts of throwing an agile Harley around the back roads.
busy
▪ Read in studio Finally, traffic on a busy road was brought to a standstill this afternoon ... by a train.
▪ My grandparents' village was a small place off the main road, away from busy roads and with no mains services.
▪ It's amazing how many schools that front busy roads have name boards but no notice boards.
▪ You must also choose an area where there is little traffic, with no busy roads nearby.
▪ He stepped on to the busy road and dragged badly injured Scott clear of the traffic.
▪ For this reason, start by choosing a relatively quiet environment rather than a busy road.
▪ Picture the surface of a busy road on a very hot day in summer.
▪ When the youngsters want to go outside and play they have to leave via the backdoor which opens on to a busy road.
lonely
▪ We don't want that, and we don't want Gatso speed cameras mounted on lonely moorland roads.
▪ Not even the hint of an antenna is visible from the lonely two-lane public road that passes about a mile away.
▪ This is an insular community, its only link with the rest of the world being the lonely Glenelg road.
▪ They remind you of a bunch of schoolboys wandering down a lonely road, kicking a ball along.
▪ So it was on that fog-bound, lonely London road.
▪ Passersby in Los Angeles left snapdragons on the lonely road where Ennis Cosby was slain by an unknown gunman.
▪ She glanced into the rear-view mirror, convinced that hers was the only car on this lonely road.
▪ Despite cutting back the undergrowth to keep routes open, footpads and other outlaws haunted most lonely stretches of road.
long
▪ The long wet road, with its facades of dreary little shops, felt empty suddenly, and somehow threatening.
▪ The enclosure turned the Broyle into the landscape of ploughland bisected by long straight roads that it still remains.
▪ Paper poured out in a long road, paved with hieroglyphics.
▪ She knew she had to travel on a long, stony road, without help or sympathy.
▪ Still, there was a long road ahead of me.
▪ It's a long, long road to success.
▪ The house was on a long road that went from pavement to dirt and back to pavement.
main
▪ Newman spotted the track leading off to the right and swung away from the main road.
▪ And both Yosemite and SequoiaKing National Parks became inaccessible as rising water washed out their main access roads but created new waterfalls.
▪ Had she been coming from London straight to Feliburn she could have stayed on the main road all the way.
▪ He turned into the main road that ran parallel with the unseen river.
▪ Detectives say some one on the main road most have seen the rope being tied in place at about 8.30 p.m. last night.
▪ Within a few yards of the main road, I was in the kind of tangle of narrow streets where the wide-boys operate.
▪ She knew where the track was and she also knew where the main road joined it.
▪ To the south of the camps is the main road from Moscow to Kuibyshev and ultimately to Tashkent.
narrow
▪ The place fascinated me - narrow country roads, little lost villages, great shingle beaches and lonely salt marshes.
▪ Sanibel is big-time touristy now, its narrow roads crammed with bicycles, cars, vans, construction equipment and delivery vehicles.
▪ They were back in a narrow country road and there were powerful lights behind them.
▪ She turned and looked up the narrow dirt road.
▪ Three hundred metres down this narrow road, opposite a red sandstone church, are the meadows.
▪ Yet motor traffic too would benefit from these, because cyclists can hold up traffic on narrow, congested roads.
▪ Today a narrow road follows closely the eleven mile perimeter of inlets and bays.
▪ The engine was started up, revving violently as the car was turned round on the narrow road.
new
▪ Soon it will be strong enough for vehicles, and a new road system will open.
▪ We can and will build new roads, new shopping malls and multiplexes.
▪ Where new road patterns or a new shopping centre affect trade, appeal.
▪ Is this bridleway to run alongside this new road?
▪ The new road is a dual 2-lane carriageway, 9.3 metres wide incorporating 1-metre-wide hard strips at each edge.
▪ Spending on new roads has increased by a third since 1979, and is planned to double again.
▪ It was, of course, laudable to clear the rookeries; essential to drive new roads through slum areas.
▪ In recent years a new coastal road has been built from Ribeira Brava to Tabua.
open
▪ On the open road, it's no use pretending that the Bentley handles with the agility of a Porsche.
▪ We ate in the fields or on the open road.
▪ If your equipment has to go outside on open roads or gravelled surfaces, remember castors are not always suitable.
▪ The current barrier was installed in 1972, after residents submitted a petition saying the open road caused traffic hazards.
▪ Daniel Boone heard it: the siren song of the open road, beckoning him to pack up and go.
▪ Do you relish the prospect of the open road?
▪ Racing on open roads was subsequently banned and the great Paris races came to an end.
■ NOUN
access
▪ Car drivers will now have to negotiate the dangers of an access road hidden by a bend on a hill.
▪ Only by driving down the restricted and guarded government access road leading to the site can one see the valley of antennas.
▪ The path to the left leads to the Old Ing farm access road above High Birkwith.
▪ And both Yosemite and SequoiaKing National Parks became inaccessible as rising water washed out their main access roads but created new waterfalls.
▪ Would follow a route east of the existing road, bypassing local communities and leaving A701 as a quiet access road.
▪ Local or access roads, or on-ramps, simplify linkages between businesses, schools, and homes to the communications backbone.
▪ Included in this area is a temporary access road from the B1348 coast road to the beach.
▪ Never drive unaccompanied on quarry access roads, used by marble-transporting trucks.
accident
▪ Tracing witnesses Unfortunately, in road accident cases, advertising for witnesses rarely produces results.
▪ This area was specifically targeted because of the high level of involvement of people living there in road accidents.
▪ Jasper had been in a road accident a few months before the diagnosis.
▪ Of course, road accidents and pedestrian tumbles would also increase alarmingly as wind-blown polymer dust spread round the locality.
▪ Report on the potential of a short video to demonstrate the importance of accuracy in collecting road accident information.
▪ In 1987 Mr Keyse was disabled in a road accident while returning home from a day's work at Llanfair Caereinion station.
country
▪ The road, narrow as any country road, was a single-lane journey for any vehicle.
▪ She was later picked up on a country road by a passing citizen, police said.
▪ Even without tolls, country roads are likely to be three times as busy in 2025 as they are today.
▪ The Sunday morning crash happened near a country road about 25 miles southwest of Portland.
▪ He pressed his foot down, sped along the country road which was free of other traffic.
▪ As an illustration, imagine a child walking down a country road with his father.
▪ Some of these visitors will be unaccustomed to country roads and to the hazards of walking along a road with no footpath.
▪ There were kids traveling to and from school down the country road through the woods.
dirt
▪ Landmines hidden in the dirt roads are the weapons the farmers hate most.
▪ We were a mile down a dirt road.
▪ After that it's a dirt road, but fairly new.
▪ We were bumping along a dirt road when a storm gathered dark clouds above us.
▪ We reached Ebenat after a four-hour drive along dirt roads from the town of Gondar.
▪ Nearby, blue-painted rocks are strewn on the dirt road known as the Gravel Pit.
▪ We came on to the dirt road and a woman in a fluttering robe of pale pink organza walked towards us.
▪ Every now and then a car rumbled over the bumpy dirt road, leaving behind a whirl of white dust.
map
▪ All I had for guidance was Donald's photocopied road map.
▪ Hey, Willie, how about sending down a busload of Muni drivers who can read a road map?
▪ They're not like road maps, more a kind of spiritual map, showing significant places.
▪ It is a low-risk, high-reward chance for you to see if your road map works.
▪ And that leaves out Path statements that read like a road map of your hard disk.
▪ By comparison, the performance pattern of management, sales, and manufacturing amounted to a virtual road map for disaster.
▪ Strong alternatives include: Using new technology can be like following a complicated road map.
▪ A road map of his travels up and down the West.
ring
▪ All the good spots are close to the ring road.
▪ I stayed with him in the heavy traffic round the ring road, skirting the city centre and out towards Bingley.
▪ Access at the bottom of Tubwell Row to the ring road might have to be controlled by traffic lights.
▪ Nine tenths of the Leicester ring road is finished and has been for some years.
▪ She fills up with petrol on the ring road.
▪ Back beside the ring road and the footbridge.
▪ It is so obvious that they should all stay outside the ring road except for the bus station where they would all terminate.
safety
▪ Roads minister Kenneth Carlisle unveiled the measures after six months of consultation with road safety groups.
▪ Libraries are also being targeted and static displays are being used to highlight road safety.
▪ Where needed the Police are supplying road safety literature, advice and instruction.
▪ Diabetes can cause road safety problems.
▪ He has been chairman of the road safety committee since 1986.
▪ This weekend road safety officers will offer free checks at a car safety centre in Milton Keynes.
side
▪ Pulling out of side roads when it is not safe to do so.
▪ The side roads are for locals and tourists; these big dudes are made for voyagers.
▪ An escape route may be a back door, a side road or a low wall fronting a garden.
▪ They vowed that the side roads would be clear by this morning.
▪ The Jaguar slowed down and he pulled off the main highway into a side road.
▪ I only know it was somewhere in a side road, where Highway i comes into Saigon.
▪ He didn't see who was in the car and it went up a side road.
▪ He shone his hand-lamp into the car and then, without speaking, opened the gate across a side road.
sign
▪ This happened to me on the Seven Mile Straight at recently, a lorry coming in the opposite direction in spite of road signs.
▪ Through our windshields we see road signs and tail-lights-technology has blinkered us.
▪ Takes minutes to drive 6 miles into centre of Bideford due to endlessness of roads and imbecilic road signs.
▪ Drop the requirement for use of the metric system on road signs.
▪ It didn't say Blackberry Hill anywhere, there was just an old-fashioned road sign saying Broughton Street was four miles away.
▪ Mammoth road signs do their best to ensure that such oversights do not occur.
▪ Fisher's study also suggested that recall was not a good measure of whether a road sign had been heeded.
transport
▪ After much deliberation, six horse-drawn vehicles were selected to complement the existing road transport collections.
▪ Other agreements were concluded concerning border crossings, agricultural, scientific and cultural co-operation, recognition of educational qualifications and road transport.
▪ Section 8 grants A road haulage business seeking to expand need not restrict itself entirely to the road transport industry.
▪ This stopped after the bad winter of 1962-3 in the face of increasing competition from road transport on the new motorway system.
▪ The biggest growth in carbon dioxide emissions, implicated in the major problem confronting humanity's survival, is from road transport.
▪ Sea, inland waterway, and road transport came under the control of the Commissariat as well as the railways.
▪ Cost benefit analysis particularly in conjunction with road transport.
▪ Unless you specialize in this form of road transport, you are likely to fall outside the strict confines of statutory regulations.
trip
▪ The Bucks concluded a four-game road trip with a 1-3 record.
▪ She has a short ruse anyway; road trips make it shorter.
▪ For example, what year was the road trip?
▪ This is Jess's last road trip, her final four Pac-10 games.
▪ To be sure, too much detail would detract from the ritual of the road trip / quest myth.
▪ He also did not accompany the team when it left for Pittsburgh last night for a five-day, two-game road trip.
▪ Cal and Stanford so far have tried, and failed, to sweep the Washington road trip.
trunk
▪ The school is situated half way between Maidstone and Ashford on the A20 trunk road.
▪ By 1676 it was part of the main Oxford to Coventry road and of course remains as a major trunk road today.
▪ Yet, on minor roads as well as trunk roads, studies find that standards are declining.
▪ It enables continued good progress on the A74 and further improvements to the M8 and other trunk roads and local roads.
▪ Why not a cost-benefit analysis of trunk roads?
▪ Patching the cracks and filling in the potholes falls to the County Council everywhere except trunk roads and motorways.
▪ Some 40 new ones will be opened by 1995 on trunk road alone.
▪ This completes the link between the A8 and the A1 trunk roads.
■ VERB
build
▪ They were opposing the building of a road over a burial site.
▪ When Brown built a plank road from his hotel to the Falls, Forsyth ripped it up.
▪ We are going to build roads!
▪ Training an animal is like building a road.
▪ Congress also voted to assign the customs from the ports of San BIas and Mazatlan to build roads from them to Guadalajara.
▪ We will investigate ways of speeding up, within the Department of Transport, the procedures for building new roads.
▪ During the occupation, the army trained a military, built roads, and opened schools.
cross
▪ At present, bears regularly cross the little-used road at several points.
▪ In that one, a chicken crosses a road to get to a Budweiser.
▪ Spouthouse Aqueduct crosses a minor road, by which stand Dyas Take Away and a supermarket.
▪ David, crossed by several roads. 6.
▪ The children can walk to school without crossing a road anywhere.
▪ They cross roads diagonally, walk in front of parked cars and forget to look in more than one direction at junctions.
▪ He was hit by a truck as he crossed a road in Auckland.
drive
▪ It will drive people on to the roads.
▪ For a while he drove the winding club roads, past the wrecked tennis courts, the empty swimming pool.
▪ At first there was silence as they drove along the quiet road, simply enjoying being close to each other.
▪ When you drive in, the road narrows, the metal guard rail is replaced by a hand laid rock wall.
▪ He made his case in the car, driving the dark road.
▪ It was, of course, laudable to clear the rookeries; essential to drive new roads through slum areas.
▪ For hours we drove on roads which Rand McNally &038; Company considers unworthy of notice.
follow
▪ Strong alternatives include: Using new technology can be like following a complicated road map.
▪ They expected that the orders to buy junk bonds would soon follow their road show.
▪ The route follows minor roads, woodland paths, paths across fields and cliff-tops as you cross Whitecliff Bay to reach Sandown.
▪ A just imam must follow the road already laid out which leads the community to happiness on earth and in the Beyond.
hit
▪ Gina Coulstock, 18, stumbled, fell heavily and was knocked out when she hit the road.
▪ After fifteen minutes of rough riding, we finally hit a macadam road not completely parked over with cars for the concert.
▪ So next time you hit the road make sure it doesn't hit back.
▪ Travelers will find it more comfortable and interesting to hit the road this year.
▪ Read in studio Well it's time now to hit the road with the London Sydney car marathon.
▪ We packed up and hit the road.
▪ And that, say police, is the reason why so many cyclists are hit on the roads.
▪ Time to hit the road again.
lead
▪ When he got outside he turned to the right, up to the mountain road leading to his home.
▪ Veer left and left again, passing the road that leads into Fish Canyon.
▪ Along the road leading to it were many altars and shrines and there are also remains which could belong to a theatre.
▪ All roads led back to Jessica.
▪ He drove out of Grantley and along the road that led to the village of Woodham.
▪ Only by driving down the restricted and guarded government access road leading to the site can one see the valley of antennas.
▪ I never doubted that I was on a road that led somewhere.
▪ A well-graded road leads south, over a bridge, crosses the freeway and continues into the desert.
run
▪ Spurred on by a new hope, she ran across the road and scrambled up the smooth grassy side of the hillock.
▪ The four desperadoes took off after us, running up the road as their gun barrels glinted in the light.
▪ Peter Beard chased and arrested McKitten after he was almost run off the road.
▪ It shared them with the rickety railway line which ran parallel to the road.
▪ The harpies from Paris running the road houses which must inevitably multiply will be a worse scourge than the mosquitoes.
▪ The last they ever saw of him, he was running up the road holding his guts in.
▪ We crawled out of the drain, saw the coast clear, and ran down the road together.
▪ With the light, it feels colder and I run down the road a bit to warm myself up.
turn
▪ Horowitz watched it turn on to the road and vanish.
▪ He reached a gate and turned from the road.
▪ The jeep reached the River Orne and we turned off the road on to a narrow path just wide enough for the jeep.
▪ By now we were close to my farm, coasting down off the ridge, the headlights turning the gravel road white.
▪ He hurried on, sighting Clare and Underwood in the distance just turning off the main road up the hill.
▪ They turned off the B road at the junction and drove down the narrow track to the cottages.
▪ At Gédre, you can turn off the Gavarnie road to the east and drive up to the alternative Cirque de Troumouse.
walk
▪ I was always a stick walking down the road with a flat chest.
▪ He grew frightened for her and walked down the road in the direction she should be coming from.
▪ I was walking along the road and all of a sudden this police car drew up beside me.
▪ When we got in the Mekong, soldiers were walking on the road and they saw us.
▪ So a television picture changed at the same time as you saw your ex-lover walking down the road opposite.
▪ Captain Samphan was walking fast across the road in the middle distance, ordering some of the troops into the paddy field.
▪ I had been walking him around the roads for a couple of weeks and couldn't wait to have him fit again.
▪ They walked back to the road.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a road map to peace
a road map to sth
back street/lane/road etc
▪ A far better alternative was to walk the back roads and country lanes.
▪ And this was how many such agents lived, in rooms in the back streets of cities.
▪ I have found one must speak slowly to people who live in the back streets of London.
▪ Iain and Tommy drank together on the back streets of Pinner.
▪ Now they left the main road for the quieter, dimmer back streets.
▪ People always honk at me for that so I try to take the back roads.
▪ That afternoon I drove nonstop over the back roads of Ames and Bern townships.
▪ The back lane, roughly on the line of the original through road, is exactly that.
fast road
▪ But at the summit there's a fast road down if you take yourself too seriously.
▪ Gone is the wide fast road and its dangerous crossing, where the stripes gave walkers a false sense of security.
▪ Wear a helmet, especially if using fast roads.
hit the road/trail
▪ Doogie allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction as Shifty-Eyes hit the road, then he turned and grabbed Pointy-Beard's tie.
▪ Gina Coulstock, 18, stumbled, fell heavily and was knocked out when she hit the road.
▪ Read in studio Well it's time now to hit the road with the London Sydney car marathon.
▪ So next time you hit the road make sure it doesn't hit back.
▪ Time to hit the road again.
▪ Travelers will find it more comfortable and interesting to hit the road this year.
▪ Tyros get kick-started by taking shoeless jaunts around their house, back yard and neighborhood before hitting the trail.
▪ We packed up and hit the road.
hold the road
▪ Lucker has difficulty holding the road.
let's get this show on the road
rail/road/telephone etc link
▪ Excellent road and rail links make access easy from all parts of the country.
▪ However, outlying villages had been attacked and the city's rail link with Phnom Penh was frequently severed.
▪ In many cases they have the public on their side as the recent furore over the rail links with London has demonstrated.
▪ Newby is a quiet village between the busy A65 and the old road linking Ingleton and Clapham with road access to both.
▪ The houses will be for people who have to move out of Bentham Drive to make way for a new rail link.
▪ Through the World's Edge Mountains great fortified underground roads linked their underground cities.
▪ When it was first launched in 1982 a Minitel terminal consisted of a small monitor with a keyboard and a telephone link.
▪ Will he take note of the campaign to sink the link, as the channel tunnel rail link passes Gravesend and Northfleet?
road to Damascus
road-rage/air-rage etc
stick to the path/road etc
▪ For now she stuck to the road which took her to the right, towards the sea.
▪ So please stick to the path at this site and hopefully nothing else will need to be done.
▪ They clung to the towns, venturing out only by day, their big battalions sticking to the roads.
take the (moral) high road
▪ Daley has taken the high road in his campaign, trying to ignore Merriam's attacks.
▪ Instead, I decided to take the high road.
▪ Read in studio Still to come on Central News, taking the high road.
▪ She was at least making the attempt to take the high road, only to run into a dead end.
the bottom of a road/garden etc
the end of the road/line
▪ Monday's loss was the end of the line for Martin, who finished third in the tournament.
▪ At the end of the line, the local authority careers service is called in to rescue what remains of this shambles.
▪ At the end of the road, a four-foot-tall rock cairn stands between us and the beach.
▪ Disappointed, I dragged myself to the end of the line.
▪ For river people all along the Missouri and Mississippi valleys, Fort Benton was the end of the line.
▪ Had the mighty champions really reached the end of the road?
▪ Hop on over to the end of the road and give her a tinkle.
▪ The sale marks the end of the line for the 61-year-old chain, which has had a rocky recent history.
▪ This is the end of the road for Pharaoh and his people.
through road
▪ I know its London shrieks and shuffles as it rushes through road canyons and around the sharp edges of tall buildings.
▪ The back lane, roughly on the line of the original through road, is exactly that.
▪ The old lane was in use down to comparatively recent times as a through road from Northampton to Banbury.
▪ The original through road is still in existence at the top and the bottom of the picture.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a small Texas road
▪ A widow lives in the house just across the road.
▪ As you leave the city, turn right and take the road to Madrid.
▪ Before crossing the road, stop, look, and listen.
▪ I like driving on the French roads - they're so straight, and there isn't much traffic.
▪ I live at 37 King's Road, Birmingham.
▪ I went to the girls' school down the road.
▪ It's amazing how many schools front busy roads.
▪ Route 66 used to be one of the main roads across the States.
▪ Something was lying in the gutter by the side of the road.
▪ Susie used to live on this road.
▪ They're building a new road around the city centre.
▪ They turned left at the gas station, into the busy main road.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A recent major study of traffic problems in the Edinburgh area recognised road safety as a major factor for consideration.
▪ All three hurried round the side of the house and issued through the gates on to the road.
▪ I argued with him in the road.
▪ On the way I noticed that the pavement swayed from side to side and the road heaved up and down.
▪ Set on the main road - 15 minutes walk from the resort centre, local buses stop nearby.
▪ So on their trip to the Coast empty they picked up everybody on the road.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
road

Break \Break\ (br[=a]k), v. t. [imp. broke (br[=o]k), (Obs. Brake); p. p. Broken (br[=o]"k'n), (Obs. Broke); p. pr. & vb. n. Breaking.] [OE. breken, AS. brecan; akin to OS. brekan, D. breken, OHG. brehhan, G. brechen, Icel. braka to creak, Sw. braka, br["a]kka to crack, Dan. br[ae]kke to break, Goth. brikan to break, L. frangere. Cf. Bray to pound, Breach, Fragile.]

  1. To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal; to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock.
    --Shak.

  2. To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a package of goods.

  3. To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.

    Katharine, break thy mind to me.
    --Shak.

  4. To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.

    Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts . . . To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray.
    --Milton

  5. To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate; as, to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey.

    Go, release them, Ariel; My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore.
    --Shak.

  6. To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as, to break a set.

  7. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares.

  8. To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.

    The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments with which he had solaced the hours of captivity.
    --Prescott.

  9. To exchange for other money or currency of smaller denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.

  10. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as, to break flax.

  11. To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.

    An old man, broken with the storms of state.
    --Shak.

  12. To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a fall or blow.

    I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall.
    --Dryden.

  13. To impart, as news or information; to broach; -- with to, and often with a modified word implying some reserve; as, to break the news gently to the widow; to break a purpose cautiously to a friend.

  14. To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or saddle. ``To break a colt.''
    --Spenser.

    Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
    --Shak.

  15. To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to ruin.

    With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks, Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks.
    --Dryden.

  16. To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss. I see a great officer broken. --Swift. Note: With prepositions or adverbs: To break down.

    1. To crush; to overwhelm; as, to break down one's strength; to break down opposition.

    2. To remove, or open a way through, by breaking; as, to break down a door or wall. To break in.

      1. To force in; as, to break in a door.

      2. To train; to discipline; as, a horse well broken in. To break of, to rid of; to cause to abandon; as, to break one of a habit. To break off.

        1. To separate by breaking; as, to break off a twig.

        2. To stop suddenly; to abandon. ``Break off thy sins by righteousness.'' --Dan. iv. 27. To break open, to open by breaking. ``Open the door, or I will break it open.'' --Shak. To break out, to take or force out by breaking; as, to break out a pane of glass. To break out a cargo, to unstow a cargo, so as to unload it easily. To break through.

          1. To make an opening through, as, as by violence or the force of gravity; to pass violently through; as, to break through the enemy's lines; to break through the ice.

          2. To disregard; as, to break through the ceremony. To break up.

            1. To separate into parts; to plow (new or fallow ground). ``Break up this capon.''
              --Shak. ``Break up your fallow ground.''
              --Jer. iv. 3.

            2. To dissolve; to put an end to. ``Break up the court.'' --Shak. To break (one) all up, to unsettle or disconcert completely; to upset. [Colloq.] Note: With an immediate object: To break the back.

              1. To dislocate the backbone; hence, to disable totally.

              2. To get through the worst part of; as, to break the back of a difficult undertaking. To break bulk, to destroy the entirety of a load by removing a portion of it; to begin to unload; also, to transfer in detail, as from boats to cars. To break a code to discover a method to convert coded messages into the original understandable text. To break cover, to burst forth from a protecting concealment, as game when hunted. To break a deer or To break a stag, to cut it up and apportion the parts among those entitled to a share. To break fast, to partake of food after abstinence. See Breakfast. To break ground.

                1. To open the earth as for planting; to commence excavation, as for building, siege operations, and the like; as, to break ground for a foundation, a canal, or a railroad.

                2. Fig.: To begin to execute any plan.

    3. (Naut.) To release the anchor from the bottom.

      To break the heart, to crush or overwhelm (one) with grief.

      To break a house (Law), to remove or set aside with violence and a felonious intent any part of a house or of the fastenings provided to secure it.

      To break the ice, to get through first difficulties; to overcome obstacles and make a beginning; to introduce a subject.

      To break jail, to escape from confinement in jail, usually by forcible means.

      To break a jest, to utter a jest. ``Patroclus . . . the livelong day breaks scurril jests.''
      --Shak.

      To break joints, to lay or arrange bricks, shingles, etc., so that the joints in one course shall not coincide with those in the preceding course.

      To break a lance, to engage in a tilt or contest.

      To break the neck, to dislocate the joints of the neck.

      To break no squares, to create no trouble. [Obs.]

      To break a path, road, etc., to open a way through obstacles by force or labor.

      To break upon a wheel, to execute or torture, as a criminal by stretching him upon a wheel, and breaking his limbs with an iron bar; -- a mode of punishment formerly employed in some countries.

      To break wind, to give vent to wind from the anus.

      Syn: To dispart; rend; tear; shatter; batter; violate; infringe; demolish; destroy; burst; dislocate.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
road

Old English rad "riding expedition, journey, hostile incursion," from Proto-Germanic *raido (cognates: Old Frisian red "ride," Old Saxon reda, Middle Dutch rede, Old High German reita "foray, raid"), from PIE *reidh- "to ride" (see ride (v.)). Also related to raid (n.). In Middle English, "a riding, a journey;" sense of "open way for traveling between two places" is first recorded 1590s. Meaning "narrow stretch of sheltered water" is from early 14c. (as in Hampton Roads in Virginia).\n

\nModern spelling established 18c. In 19c. U.S. use, often meaning "railroad." On the road "travelling" is from 1640s. Road test (n.) is from 1906; as a verb from 1937. Road hog is attested from 1886; road rage is from 1988. Road map is from 1786; road trip is by 1950, originally of baseball teams. Old English had radwerig "weary of travelling."

Wiktionary
road

n. 1 (context obsolete English) The act of riding on horseback. (9th-17th c.) 2 (context obsolete English) A hostile ride against a particular area; a raid. (9th-19th c.) 3 (context nautical often in the plural English) A partly sheltered area of water near a shore in which vessels may ride at anchor. (from 14th c.) 4 A way used for travelling between places, originally one wide enough to allow foot passengers and horses to travel, now usually one surfaced with asphalt or concrete and designed to accommodate many vehicles travelling in both directions. (from 16th c.)

WordNet
road
  1. adj. taking place over public roads; "road racing" [syn: road(a)] [ant: cross-country]

  2. working for a short time in different places; "itinerant laborers"; "a road show"; "traveling salesman"; "touring company" [syn: itinerant, touring, traveling]

road
  1. n. an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation [syn: route]

  2. a way or means to achieve something; "the road to fame"

Gazetteer
Wikipedia
Road

A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places that has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by foot or some form of conveyance, including a motor vehicle, cart, bicycle, or horse.

Roads consist of one or two roadways ( British English: carriageways), each with one or more lanes and any associated sidewalks (British English: pavement) and road verges.

Roads that are available for use by the public may be referred to as parkways, avenues, freeways, interstates, highways, or primary, secondary, and tertiary local roads.

Road (film)

Road is a 2002 Bollywood, Neo-noir road movie, produced by Ram Gopal Varma and directed by Rajat Mukherjee, starring Manoj Bajpayee, Vivek Oberoi and Antara Mali. An eloped couple Arvind ( Vivek Oberoi) and Lakshmi ( Antara Mali), en route Delhi to Jodhpur on a deserted highway, encounter a mad wayfarer ( Vijay Raaz), an Hitchhiker Babu ( Manoj Bajpai) who turns out to be a serial psychopath killer, Inderpal ( Makrand Deshpande) a happy go lucky, intelligent, responsible truck driver and an irresponsible, eccentric cop ( Sayaji Shinde).

Road (play)

Road is the first play written by Jim Cartwright, and was first produced in 1986.

The play explores the lives of the people in a deprived, working class area of Lancashire during the government of Margaret Thatcher, a time of high unemployment in the north of England. Despite its explicit nature, it was considered extremely effective in portraying the desperation of people's lives at this time, as well as containing a great deal of humour. The play won a number of awards and was voted the 36th best play of the 20th century in a poll by the Royal National Theatre. Set on a road on a busy night, the audience delve into the houses on the street and the characters lives.

The play is often performed on a promenade, allowing the audience to follow the narrator (Scullery) along the road and visit different sets and the different homes of the characters. The play was initially performed at the Royal Court Theatre "Upstairs", in 1986 with Edward Tudor-Pole as Scullery, moving "Downstairs" in 1987 with Ian Dury as the narrator.

It was later made for television by renowned director Alan Clarke and starred many young actors who later became well-known including Jane Horrocks, David Thewlis, Moya Brady and Lesley Sharp.

Road was produced in New York by Lincoln Center Theater at La MaMa Etc. in 1988, with a cast including Joan Cusack and Kevin Bacon.

Road (disambiguation)

A road is an identifiable route or path.

Road or Roads may also refer to:

Road (band)

Road was an American hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1970. Comprising bassist/vocalist Noel Redding (previously of The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Fat Mattress), guitarist/vocalist Rod Richards (formerly of Rare Earth) and drummer/vocalist Leslie Sampson, the band released one album, Road, in 1972.

The band is no relation to the Dutch band Road active at the same time with "Never Leave Me Lonely" 1971.

Road (album)

Road is the debut self-titled studio album by American hard rock group Road. Released in 1972, it was the only album to be released by the band, who split up the same year. The song "My Friends" was originally recorded by bassist Noel Redding's previous band, Fat Mattress, but went unreleased at the time, making the Road version the first published recording of the song. (The Fat Mattress version has since appeared on the complete works package The Black Sheep of the Family: The Anthology, on which it is incorrectly listed as "Little Girl in White".)

Road (hieroglyph)

The Ancient Egyptian Road-with-shrubs hieroglyph is Gardiner sign listed no. N31 for a road, "street", or pathway. It originally was a curving hieroglyph, but became a standardized straight form as well.

The road hieroglyph is used in Egyptian hieroglyphs as an ideogram or determinative in the word w3t-(uat), for 'road'. It is also a phonogram for hr, from the word hrt, also for 'road'.

Road (sports)

A road game or away game is a sports game where the specified team is not the host and must travel to another venue. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions. Each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games.

When a team is not the host, it must travel to games (usually by bus or car, hence "road", though increasingly also by plane for longer journeys). Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the road team, the visiting team, or the away team, and the game is described as a road game or an away game for that team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the visiting stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team.

The home team is often thought to have a home advantage over the visiting team, because of their familiarity with the environment, their shorter travel times, and the influence that a parochial crowd may have over an official's decisions. Another home team advantage that is unique to baseball is familiarity with the home ballpark's outfield dimensions and height of the outfield wall, as well as the size of foul territory and location of in-play obstacles (e.g., a bullpen on the playing field). Major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each team's home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other.

Occasionally, the road team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. These matches often become local derbies. (Also, see the article on subway series for baseball series played between the New York Yankees, and New York's National League teams, and similar series between other teams that play in the same city or state.) A few times a year, a road team may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. This is prevalent in college athletics where many schools will often play in regional leagues or groundshare.

The related term true road game has seen increasing use in U.S. college sports in the 21st century, especially in basketball. While regular-season tournaments and other special events have been part of college sports from their creation, the 21st century has seen a proliferation of such events. These are typically held at neutral sites, with some of them taking place outside the contiguous U.S. (as in the case of the Great Alaska Shootout and Maui Invitational) or even outside the country entirely (such as the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas). In turn, this has led to the use of "true road game" to refer to contests played at one team's home court.

Usage examples of "road".

So they abode there but two days, and on the third day were led away by a half score of men gaily apparelled after their manner, and having with them many sumpter-beasts with provision for the road.

Then he walked out through the pecan trees in front of the house where Antonio stood waiting with the horses and they stood for a moment in a wordless abrazo and then he mounted up into the saddle and turned the horse into the road.

Here he reared a continuous rampart with a ditch in front of it, fair-sized forts, probably a dozen in number, built either close behind it or actually abutting on it, and a connecting road running from end to end.

The reason given for this change of form was that it more conveniently allowed the lower road to pass between the springings and ensured the transmission of the wind stresses to the abutments without interrupting the cross-bracing.

Lead truck following Aby, rolling down to the fatal turn, where the woods came near the road.

He wished to God Aby had agreed to the MacFarlane with him this year, which would have put Aby far to the south instead of on that road.

He remembered Aby living, Aby on Moon, blithe and beautiful, coming down the road in the safe lowlands.

By noon he was riding a farmland road where the acequias carried the water down along the foot-trodden selvedges of the fields and he stood the horse to water and walked it up and back in the shade of a cottonwood grove to cool it.

Sure enough, the keys were in the ignition, just like the Scorpion Lady had promised, and I drove out to Phaya Tai Road and cruised up and down it til I finally found the Acme Fertilizer Company.

She had hoped that by bringing Conward into the house, by bringing Irene under the influence of a close family acquaintanceship with him, that that young lady might be led to see the folly of the road she was choosing.

Reginald turned off the public road on to the acreage that surrounded Cranford Hall.

As I crossed the road to the Chandler House, I could see that Daniel was talking to Aden in the parking lot.

An order enjoining certain steam railroads from discriminating against an electric railroad by denying it reciprocal switching privileges did not violate the Fifth Amendment even though its practical effect was to admit the electric road to a part of the business being adequately handled by the steam roads.

The middle part of the road was raised into a terrace which commanded the adjacent country, consisted of several strata of sand, gravel, and cement, and was paved with large stones, or, in some places near the capital, with granite.

I have not the slightest pretence to virtue, but I adore the fair sex, and now you and they know the road to my purse.