median strip

noun

1. a paved, planted, or landscaped strip in the center of a highway that separates lanes of traffic going in opposite directions.

median strip

noun

1. the US term for central reserve

Word History and Origins

Origin of median strip¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

Many visitors littered, parked in driveways and in some cases dodged traffic to take photos from the bridge’s median strip, residents said in interviews.

From New York Times

That same year, encampments had taken over a median strip owned by the city at Cahuenga, Franklin and Wilcox Avenue — a triangle-shaped site featuring a vertical Hollywood sign and a veterans memorial.

From Los Angeles Times

“A few miles south of Madera, in the median strip of Highway 99, stand a palm and a pine — symbolic of Southern and Northern California and much beloved by all who know what they’re driving by. When Caltrans tried to cut them down, a great outcry put a stop to that. When the pine — actually a cedar — was later blown down in a windstorm, a replacement was planted.”

From New York Times

On Culver Boulevard in Del Rey, a median strip that was once home to dozens of people had a single tent last month.

From Los Angeles Times

Massive solar panels line the median strip, soaking up the sun and channeling that energy into the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times