thoroughfare
Americannoun
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a road, street, or the like, that leads at each end into another street.
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a major road or highway.
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a passage or way through.
no thoroughfare.
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a strait, river, or the like, affording passage.
noun
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a road from one place to another, esp a main road
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way through or access
no thoroughfare
Etymology
Origin of thoroughfare
First recorded in 1350–1400, thoroughfare is from the Middle English word thurghfare. See thorough, fare
Explanation
A thoroughfare is a public road that can get you from one place to another. When it snows, plows try to remove the snow from the thoroughfares so the school buses can take everyone to school. You’re welcome. This somewhat old-fashioned word has a very common meaning — a public road that goes from point A to point B. The word is made up of thorough, Old English for basically, “through” and fare for “journey.” (Fare also now means a payment, but not in thoroughfare.) If a road is private, like a driveway, it’s not a thoroughfare. This word often appears in the phrase "no thoroughfare," which means there isn't a public route available.
Vocabulary lists containing thoroughfare
Fahrenheit 451
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The Call of the Wild
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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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.
Government cars were parked on the former thoroughfare of Pennsylvania Avenue.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
Crowder was arrested just after 3:30 p.m. on the 100 block of South Brand Boulevard, Glendale’s main financial and commercial thoroughfare, according to Sgt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The thoroughfare was partially closed for almost the entirety of the city's festival season after the blaze at the B-listed former Debenhams in the early hours of 9 July.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
An AFP photographer saw several ambulances heading to the scene, where a main thoroughfare had been closed to traffic.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
They assumed there would be activity there, that if anywhere would have a police or military presence, it would be Claiborne, the main thoroughfare nearby.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
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.
