avenue
Americannoun
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a wide street or main thoroughfare.
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a means of access or attainment.
avenues of escape; avenues to greater power.
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a way or means of entering into or approaching a place.
the various avenues to India.
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Chiefly British.
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a wide, usually tree-lined road, path, driveway, etc., through grounds to a country house or monumental building.
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a suburban, usually tree-lined residential street.
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noun
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a broad street, often lined with trees
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(capital as part of a street name) a road, esp in a built-up area
Shaftesbury Avenue
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a main approach road, as to a country house
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a way bordered by two rows of trees
an avenue of oaks
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a line of approach
explore every avenue
Synonym Usage
See street.
Etymology
Origin of avenue
First recorded in 1590–1600; from French, literally, “approach,” noun use of feminine past participle of avenir, from Latin advenīre “to come to.” See a- 5, venue
Explanation
An avenue is a street, especially a wide one lined with trees. An avenue is also any approach to doing something. For example, this web site might be a new avenue you have found for learning words. The word avenue comes from the French avenir, meaning "to come to, or arrive." The first meaning is simply a wide street. An avenue — or boulevard — is likely to be busy, unlike a quiet side street. The abbreviation is ave., as in Park Ave. Also, an avenue is a way to accomplish something. If you need money but can't get a loan, you'll have to find another avenue.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Payment apps give kids another avenue beyond mobile banking, and for some Gen Alpha teens picking up casual work, they offer a different way to get paid.
From MarketWatch • May 29, 2026
And he has been resolved to pursue every legal and administrative avenue, vowing to “exhaust every internal remedy available” until, in his view, justice is served.
From Slate • May 28, 2026
The centre-right leader said he was exploring every avenue of dialogue with the demonstrators, but told Argentine news outlet Todo Noticias on Saturday: "Everything has a limit."
From BBC • May 24, 2026
“They’re essentially closing off every possible avenue for shareholders to have any influence at all,” said Ann Lipton, a law professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
It was dark in the church; street lights had been snapping on all around him on the populous avenue; the light of the day was gone.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
