- 1a highway that goes around a city More Aboutroadsroads and streets
- In a town or city, street is the most general word for a road with houses and buildings on one or both sides:a street map of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.Street is not used for roads between towns, but streets in towns are often called Road:Colesberg Street Old Georgetown Road.A road map of a country shows you the major routes between, around, and through towns and cities.
- Other words used in the names of streets include:Circle, Court, Crescent, Drive, Hill, and Way. Avenue suggests a wide street. A lane is a narrow street.
- Main Street is used, especially as a name, for the main street of a town, where most stores, banks, etc. are, or used to be before a town got bigger.
- The roads that connect towns and cities are called highways, freeways, or interstates (for example State Route 347, Interstate 94). These are large divided roads built so that long-distance traffic could avoid towns.
- A beltway is built around a city or town to reduce traffic in the center:the D.C. beltway.A bypass passes around a town or city rather than through the center:the Richmond bypass.
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- 2the Beltway [singular] the political world and social life of Washington, D.C. She had a difficult time adjusting to life inside the Beltway.
Check pronunciation: beltway