highway
/ˈhaɪweɪ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.49 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A main public road, especially a multi-lane, high-speed thoroughfare.
noun
A road that is major (more heavily traveled and thus more important than a byway), higher than the surrounding land, has drainage ditches at the sides, or has any combination of those traits.
Archaic
noun
Synonym of bus (“common connection for two or more circuits or components”).
verb
To travel on a highway
name
A number of places in England:
name
A number of places in England:
Example Sentences
- "The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures."
- "You're on a highway to greatness."
- "I'm on the highway to hell"
- "So how do the scientists cope with their work being ignored for decades, and living in a world their findings indicate is on a “highway to hell”?."
Etymology
From Middle English heiȝwai, heiȝwei, from Old English hēahweġ (“main road, highway”), corresponding to high + way. Compare highgate, high street, high road. Cognate with Scots heaway, heway, hieway, hichway, heichway (“highway”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: heiȝwai, hēahweġ
Usage
Inflected Forms
highways (plural)
hwy. (alternative, abbreviation)
hwy (alternative, abbreviation)
hi'way (alternative, abbreviation)
hi-way (alternative, abbreviation)
hiway (alternative, abbreviation)
hi way (alternative, abbreviation)
highways (present, singular)
highwaying (participle, present)
highwayed (participle, past)
highwayed (past)