Suburb Meaning
/ˈsʌbɝb/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA residential area located on the outskirts of a city or large town that usually includes businesses that cater to its residents; such as schools, grocery stores, shopping centers, restaurants, convenience stores, etc.
nounThe outer part; the environment.
Sentence Examples
Helen and Kathy rented an apartment in a suburb of Tokyo.
I have to commute all the way from a distant suburb.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many families move to a ____ to enjoy larger homes and quieter streets near a city.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
They moved out of the busy city center to a quiet ____ where there was more space for their children.
Word Origin & History
From Old French suburbe, subburbe, from Latin suburbium (from sub- (“under-”) + urbs (“city”)). Displaced native Old English underburg (literally “underborough”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And the Lord spake vnto Moses in the plaines of Moab by Iordane, neere Iericho, saying,
Command the children of Israel, that they giue vnto the Leuites of the inheritance of their possession, cities to dwell in: and yee shall giue also vnto the Leuites suburbs for the cities round about them."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 35:1–2:
"These two circumstances, however, happening both unfortunately to intervene, our travellers deviated into a much less frequented track; and after riding full six miles, instead of arriving at the stately spires of Coventry, they found themselves still in a very dirty lane, where they saw no symptoms of approaching the suburbs of a large city."
— 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
"[London] could hardly have contained less than thirty or forty thousand souls within its walls; and the suburbs were very populous."
— 1818, Henry Hallam, View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages:
"Canton is by no means the only great city in the province. Fo-chan, a kind of suburb to it, about twelve miles distant, has been represented as almost as large."
— 1843, “Geographical Description of the Chinese Provinces.”, in An Historical and Descriptive Account of China, 3rd edition, volume III, →OCLC, page 37:
"At the mountain’s base is the leafy suburb of Kowloon Tong. It has never been a big tourist draw, but in the decade since territorial control returned to China, this quintessentially Hong Kong neighborhood has had many more visitors — and important changes."
— 2007 June 24, Joyce Hor-Chung Lau, “Hong Kong Is Reshaped by Mainlanders”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Jun 2015, Asia Pacific:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many families move to a ____ to enjoy larger homes and quieter streets near a city.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
They moved out of the busy city center to a quiet ____ where there was more space for their children.