corridor

American  

[kawr-i-der, -dawr, kor-] / ˈkɔr ɪ dər, -ˌdɔr, ˈkɒr- /

noun

1. a gallery or passage connecting parts of a building; hallway.

2. a passage into which several rooms or apartments open.

3. a passageway in a passenger ship or railroad car permitting access to separate cabins or compartments.

4. a narrow tract of land forming a passageway, as one connecting two major cities or one belonging to an inland country and affording an outlet to the sea.

   the Polish Corridor.

5. a usually densely populated region characterized by one or more well-traveled routes used by railroad, airline, or other carriers.

   The Northeast corridor extends from Washington, D.C., to Boston.

6. Also called air corridor.  Aeronautics. a restricted path along which an aircraft must travel to avoid hostile action, other air traffic, etc.

7. Aerospace. a carefully calculated path through the atmosphere along which a space vehicle must travel after launch or during reentry in order to attain a desired orbit, to avoid severe acceleration and deceleration, or to minimize aerodynamic heating.

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corridor British  

/ ˈkɒrɪˌdɔː /

noun

1. a hallway or passage connecting parts of a building

2. a strip of land or airspace along the route of a road or river

   the M1 corridor

3. a strip of land or airspace that affords access, either from a landlocked country to the sea (such as the Polish corridor , 1919-39, which divided Germany) or from a state to an exclave (such as the Berlin corridor , 1945–90, which passed through the former East Germany)

4. a passageway connecting the compartments of a railway coach

5. the higher echelons of government, the Civil Service, etc, considered as the location of power and influence

6. a flight path that affords safe access for intruding aircraft

7. the path that a spacecraft must follow when re-entering the atmosphere, above which lift is insufficient and below which heating effects are excessive

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Other Word Forms

• corridored adjective
• precorridor noun
• uncorridored adjective

Etymology

Origin of corridor

First recorded in 1585–95; from Middle French, from Upper Italian corridore (Tuscan corridoio ), equivalent to corr(ere) “to run,” (from Latin currere ) + -idore, from Latin -i- + -tōrium noun suffix; -i-, -tory ²

Explanation

A long hallway, especially one that has rooms opening up into it, is called a corridor. Late at night, hotel corridors all look alike. Be sure you try to open the right door with your key card. A corridor is also a tract of land that connects two places or runs along the side of a road. In your town, the business corridor might be a fairly small strip of land with just a couple of restaurants and a few stores. The Northeast Corridor is the built-up area that links eastern cities in a chain that stretches from Boston to Washington, D.C.

Example Sentences

The game, designed by Japanese artist Kotake Create, drops you into a white-tiled subway corridor that you’ll encounter again and again until the keys to unlock the title escape are deduced.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

The economic integration of Asia depends on this narrow, vulnerable corridor.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

Improved social care would help ambulances, because they are being "challenged in moving people through into hospitals because there are no beds. It would help corridor care".

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

Ships that pay the toll follow a corridor between Iran’s Qeshm and Larak islands, north of the main shipping channel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

“I should have mentioned that there is a set of stairs at the far end of the corridor that leads above deck.”

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Related Words

• aisle
• foyer
• hall
• lobby
• passage
• passageway