road

Less common meanings

6. 6
   tripnounobsolete

   A journey, or a single stage of a journey.

   Note

   A journey measured out in stages, now obsolete. The trap for a modern reader is the plural. When Shakespeare and Fletcher write in 1613 that 'with easy roads, he came to Leicester', they mean gentle stages of travel, not smooth highways. Like the riding sense, it keeps the word's first meaning of movement rather than place. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Road formerly meant a journey or stage of a journey; the plural here refers to stages of travel. en.wiktionary.org
   • Shakespeare and Fletcher wrote the play containing the quotation. folgerpedia.folger.edu
   • The quoted words occur in Henry VIII; Griffith speaks them about Wolsey's arrival at Leicester. folger.edu
   • The journey and riding senses preserve the word's earlier meaning of movement. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   railway companynounarchaicUS

   A railroad, regarded as a whole line, system, or operating company.

   The road extended its line west to capture the new cattle trade.

   Two rival roads fought for years over the same mountain pass.

   Note

   Old American railroad talk used the word for an entire line, so two competing railroads were two rival roads. Outside railroaders' own jargon, where it survives, it is met in period writing rather than current speech. Railway speech has kept the word for a narrower job, a single track, and that use, unlike this one, is shared by British and American speakers. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Historical American railway writing used roads for entire railway lines or companies, including competing ones. gutenberg.org
   • The narrower single-track sense is used in both British and American English. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   sheltered waternouncountable

   A partly sheltered stretch of water near a shore where vessels can ride at anchor.

   Cargo ships often anchor in the roads outside the port while they wait for a berth.

   From the beach we could see a dozen freighters riding at anchor in the roads.

   UsageUse in for location: ships anchored in the roads.

   Similaranchorage, roadstead

   Note

   The word's riding origin shows through in this sailor's anchorage, where ships ride at anchor. Shakespeare's Antonio reads that his ships 'are safely come to road', and John Smith's True Travels (1630) checks 'what ships was in the Roade'. The longer roadstead names the same water. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

   • Road derives from a word meaning riding. en.wiktionary.org
   • Shakespeare's Antonio reads that his ships are safely come to road. folger.edu
   • John Smith wrote True Travels, published in 1630. tile.loc.gov
   • The original title-page publication year is 1630. tile.loc.gov
   • True Travels contains the exact words quoted. tile.loc.gov
   • Roadstead names the same anchorage as nautical road. en.wikipedia.org
9. 9
   nounobsolete

   A hostile ride against an area; a raid.

   Note

   Old English rād also meant a hostile incursion, and that meaning reached modern English twice. Under road it is obsolete. Through Scots the same word came back as raid, its doublet, which now carries the sense alone. A reader of older texts who finds road where raid would be expected is looking at two words from one Old English source. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Old English rād could mean a hostile incursion. en.wiktionary.org
   • The shared Old English ancestor reached modern English through inheritance as road and borrowing as raid. en.wiktionary.org
   • Raid was acquired through Scots and is a doublet of road. en.wiktionary.org
   • Road and raid are distinct words descended from the same Old English word through different historical routes. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    nounobsolete

    The act or activity of riding on horseback.

    Note

    Here the word still means what it first meant: the riding itself, not the ground ridden over. That is the origin behind the everyday road. The sense is obsolete, and in modern English ride or riding does this work. A reader who meets road meaning a ride will find it only in old texts. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The riding sense preserves the meaning of the Old English ancestor. en.wiktionary.org
    • The everyday word road descends from a word meaning riding or journey. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    noun

    A single track of a railroad, regarded as one line along which trains run.
12. 12
    noun

    A hard, flat cricket pitch that favors the batting side.
13. 13
    noun

    An underground passage or tunnel within a mine, used for access and haulage.