lane
Plurallanes
- 1A strip of road for one line of vehicles, usually marked with lines.
Stay in your lane until you are ready to turn.
The truck moved into the left lane to pass us.
UsageCars drive in a lane: in the left lane. Drivers change lanes.
Note
- 2A road or street, when the word is part of its name.
Their house is on Birch Lane, just past the school.
Turn left onto Mill Lane, and the park is on your right.
UsageWrite it with a capital, after the name: on Birch Lane.
Similarstreet
Note
- 3A narrow road or path, especially in the country, often with hedges, walls, or trees along it.
We drove slowly down a bumpy lane between the farms.
The lane was so narrow that two cars could not pass each other.
UsageOften a country lane.
Similarroad
- 4One of the marked strips on a running track or in a pool, where one person runs or swims.
Each runner must stay in her own lane during the race.
He was given the outside lane for the 200-meter final.
UsageSay in lane four or in the outside lane.
Note
- 5The long, smooth strip of floor that you roll a bowling ball down.
He rolled the ball slowly down the lane and knocked over six pins.
Our group rented two lanes for an hour on Friday night.
Similaralley
- 6One of several paths or tracks that run side by side.
Each checkout lane at the store had a long line.
The airport opened two more security lanes to shorten the wait.
UsageOften checkout lane or security lane.
Similartrack
- 7A set path that ships or planes follow when they travel.
Like a road, but drawn on a map of the sea or sky instead of painted on the ground.
Big ships follow a busy lane across the channel.
The pilot kept the plane in its lane high above the ocean.
UsageOften in shipping lane.
Similarroute, corridor, course, channel
Note
Less common meanings
- 8In some video games, one of the main paths on the map where players fight.
I will guard the top lane while you fight in the middle.
Enemy soldiers march down each lane toward our base.
- 9In horse racing, the last straight part of the track before the finish line.
- 10One of several side-by-side slots in a computer chip, each with a value, that one instruction handles at once.
- 11In some card games, an empty space left when a whole row of cards is removed.
Practice
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Origin
From Old English lanu, meaning a lane or alley. It goes back to older Germanic words for a passageway.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Lane derives from Old English lanu. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English lanu meant a lane or alley. en.wiktionary.org
- Lanu descends from earlier Germanic forms meaning a passageway. en.wiktionary.org