street S1 W1 /striːt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: stræt ]
1 . a public road in a city or town that has houses, shops etc on one or both sides:
We moved to Center Street when I was young.
She lives just a few streets away.
I walked on further down the street.
Someone just moved in across the street.
a car parked on the other side of the street
2 . the streets [plural] ( also the street ) the busy public parts of a city where there is a lot of activity, excitement, and crime, or where people without homes live
on the streets
young people living on the streets
She felt quite safe walking the streets after dark.
Children as young as five are left to roam the streets (=walk around the streets) at night.
street musicians (=ones who play on the street)
She has written about the realities of street life (=living on the streets) .
3 . the man/woman in the street ( also the man/woman on the street ) the average person, who represents the general opinion about things:
The man on the street assumes that all politicians are corrupt.
4 . (right) up your street British English exactly right for you
5 . streets ahead (of somebody/something) British English informal much better than someone or something else:
James is streets ahead of the rest of the class at reading.
⇨ ↑ backstreet , ⇨ be (living) on easy street at ↑ easy 1 (13), ⇨ one-way street at ↑ one-way (1), ⇨ ↑ high street , ↑ two-way street , ⇨ walk the streets at ↑ walk 1 (8)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ busy (=with a lot of traffic or people)
The house faces onto a busy street.
▪ crowded (=with a lot of people)
The streets get very crowded at weekends.
▪ quiet (=with very few people)
It was late and the streets were quiet.
▪ empty/deserted (=with no people)
As he walked home, the street was deserted.
▪ narrow
an old city with quaint narrow streets
▪ the main street (=the biggest street in a town or village)
They drove slowly along the main street.
▪ the high street British English (=the main street with shops)
I bought this coat at a shop on the high street.
▪ a shopping street British English (=with a lot of shops)
This is one of Europe’s most elegant shopping streets.
▪ a residential street (=with houses, not shops)
a quiet residential street
▪ a one-way street (=in which you can only drive in one direction)
He was caught driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
▪ a side/back street (=a small quiet street near the main street)
The restaurant is tucked away in a side street.
▪ winding streets (=streets that turn in many directions)
We spent hours exploring the town’s winding streets.
▪ cobbled streets (=with a surface made from round stones)
The cobbled streets were closed to cars.
■ verbs
▪ cross the street (=walk to the other side)
She crossed the street and walked into the bank.
■ street + NOUN
▪ a street corner (=a place where streets meet)
Youths were standing around on street corners.
▪ a street light/lamp
It was getting dark, and the street lamps were already on.
▪ street crime/violence (=when people are attacked in the street)
Young men are most likely to be victims of street crime.
▪ street clothes (=ordinary clothes, not a special uniform or costume)
She changed into her street clothes and left the theatre.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ types of road
▪ road a hard surface for cars, buses etc to drive on:
They're planning to build a new road.
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My address is 42, Station Road.
▪ street a road in a town, with houses or shops on each side:
She lives on our street.
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We walked along the streets of the old town.
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Oxford Street is one of Europe's busiest shopping areas.
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He was stopped by the police, driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
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Turn left on Main Street (=the street in the middle of a town, where most of the shops are – used in American English) .
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These days the same shops are on every high street (=the street in the middle of a town, where most of the shops are – used in British English) .
▪ avenue a road in a town, often with trees on each side:
the busy avenue in front of the cathedral
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He lived on Park Avenue.
▪ boulevard a wide road in a city or town – used especially in street names in the US, France etc. In the UK, streets are usually called avenue rather than boulevard :
the world-famous Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
▪ lane a narrow road in the country:
a winding country lane
▪ cul-de-sac a short street which is closed at one end:
The house is situated in a quiet cul-de-sac in North Oxford.
▪ track especially British English , dirt road American English a narrow road in the country, usually without a hard surface:
The farm was down a bumpy track.
▪ ring road British English a road that goes around a town:
The airport is on the ring road.
▪ bypass British English a road that goes past a town, allowing traffic to avoid the centre:
The bypass would take heavy traffic out of the old city centre.
▪ dual carriageway British English , divided highway American English a road with a barrier or strip of land in the middle that has lines of traffic travelling in each direction:
I waited until we were on the dual carriageway before I overtook him.
▪ freeway/expressway American English a very wide road in a city or between cities, on which cars can travel very fast without stopping:
Take the Hollywood Freeway (101) south, exit at Vine Street and drive east on Franklin Avenue.
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Over on the side of the expressway, he saw an enormous sedan, up against a stone wall.
▪ motorway British English , highway American English a very wide road for travelling fast over long distances:
The speed limit on the motorway is 70 miles an hour.
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the Pacific Coast Highway
▪ interstate American English a road for fast traffic that goes between states:
The accident happened on Interstate 84, about 10 miles east of Hartford.
▪ toll road a road that you pay to use:
The government is planning to introduce toll roads, in an effort to cut traffic congestion.
▪ turnpike American English a large road for fast traffic that you pay to use:
He dropped her off at an entrance to the New Jersey Turnpike.