alley
See also: Alley
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English aley, from Old French alee, feminine of alé, past participle of aler (“to go”) (French aller). Doublet of allée.
Noun
alley (plural alleys)
- A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots or buildings.
- Synonyms: alleyway; see also Thesaurus:alley
- The parking lot to my friend's apartment building is in the alley.
- (baseball) The area between the outfielders.
- Synonym: gap
- He hit one deep into the alley.
- (bowling) An establishment where bowling is played.
- Synonym: bowling alley
- (bowling) An elongated wooden strip of floor along which a bowling ball is rolled.
- Synonym: lane
- (tennis) The extra area between the sidelines or tramlines on a tennis court that is used for doubles matches.
- A walk or passage in a garden or park, bordered by rows of trees or bushes.
- 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:
- I know each lane and every alley green.
- A passageway between rows of pews in a church.
- (perspective drawing) Any passage having the entrance represented as wider than the exit, so as to give the appearance of length.
- The space between two rows of compositors' stands in a printing office.
Derived terms
Translations
narrow street
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Etymology 2
Diminutive of alabaster, from which they were once made.
Noun
alley (plural alleys)
Anagrams
Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/æli
- Rhymes:English/æli/2 syllables
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English doublets
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Baseball
- en:Bowling
- en:Tennis
- English terms with quotations
- en:Roads