Motorway Meaning
/ˈməʊtəweɪ/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA highway with grade-separated crossings (rather than level crossings) and designed (and only permitted) for high-speed motor-traffic (in Europe motor vehicles with a higher speed limit than 40 km/h) running in two directions on one separate carriageway each.
nounA racetrack venue designated especially for the sport of auto racing.
Sentence Examples
The police pursued the stolen vehicle along the motorway.
The motorway is snarled up.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
They drove at high speed on the ____ to reach the airport on time.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The new ____ bypasses several small villages, allowing travelers to reach the city center much more quickly than the old country roads.
Word Origin & History
From motor + way.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"All the R. R.'s of America will have to be furnished with a biking way and a motor way on each side of the rails."
— 1895 October, “Real Estate”, in California Banker's Magazine, page 429:
"Work of constructing the Texas Motorway, a stone highway which when completed will extend from Fort Worth to Del Rio, Tex., a distance of 500 miles, has been commenced and a section between 18 and 20 miles long running out from Glenrose, the county seat of Somervell County, has been completed."
— 1913 September 20, Good Roads, page 137:
"It is presumed that in the working out of the program the motor trucks will automatically have the major use of the local low-speed highways paralleling the motorway."
— 1925 December, C. L. Norton, “Our Industrial Highways”, in Trade Winds, volume 4, number 10:
"In 1959, Ernest Marples became the new Minister of Transport. His business career had been as a road builder and he saw the future in a network of motorways, whereas he believed there was serious overcapacity in the railway network."
— 2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 43:
"One national agency is responsible for developing and maintaining the national motorway system, which typically is a small fraction of the entire roadway network. (page 8)"
— 2001 June 26, Jim Brewer, John German, ..., “Geometric Design Practices for European Roads”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Office of International Programs, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Washington:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
They drove at high speed on the ____ to reach the airport on time.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The new ____ bypasses several small villages, allowing travelers to reach the city center much more quickly than the old country roads.