boulevard

[ bool-uh-vahrd, boo-luh- ]

noun

1. a broad avenue in a city, usually having areas at the sides or center for trees, grass, or flowers.
2. Also called boulevard strip. Upper Midwest. a strip of lawn between a sidewalk and the curb.

boulevard

/ ˈbuːlvɑː; -vɑːd /

noun

1. 1. a wide usually tree-lined road in a city, often used as a promenade
   2. ( capital as part of a street name )

      Sunset Boulevard

2. 1. a grass strip between the pavement and road
   2. the strip of ground between the edge of a private property and the road
   3. the centre strip of a road dividing traffic travelling in different directions

Word History and Origins

Origin of boulevard¹

First recorded in 1765–75; from French, Middle French (originally Picard, Walloon ): “rampart, avenue built on the site of a razed rampart,” from Middle Dutch bol(le)werc; bulwark

Word History and Origins

Origin of boulevard¹

C18: from French, from Middle Dutch bolwerc bulwark ; so called because originally often built on the ruins of an old rampart

Synonym Study

See street.

Example Sentences

This was back in 1995, when we lived on 58th Place, in the upstairs unit of an ash-white triplex in Ladera Heights, many miles south of the glamour and stock beauty of Hollywood Boulevard.

From Los Angeles Times

Tom Francis plays Joe Gillis, the down-on-his-luck screenwriter, who gets caught in the web of Norma Desmond’s spider lair on Sunset Boulevard.

From Los Angeles Times

Someone called 911 and threatened to ‘blow up’ the TransLatin@ Coalition on Wilshire Boulevard, with ‘gasoline or plane.’

From Los Angeles Times

And somehow, as the mess unfolded, even the legendary Patti LuPone got pulled into it, having infamously been canned by Andrew Lloyd Webber from her role as Norma Desmond in the 1993 London production of Sunset Boulevard, dissing the revival in a recent appearance on "The View" where she called it "lumbering."

From Salon

Each walk spans the length of an iconic L.A. boulevard, trekking about 14 to 16 miles and stopping along the way to explore its sun-scorched sidewalks and faded public murals, its high-end furniture boutiques, cheap motels and historic churches, its food carts piled high with fresh fruit and its buzzing freeway overpasses — from below.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• artery
• avenue
• highway
• thoroughfare