alley
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæl.i/
rhymes: -æli
Forms: form: alleys
Etymology: From Middle English aley, from Old French alee, feminine of alé, past participle of aler (“to go”) (French aller). Doublet of allée.
Senses: examples: text: The parking lot to my friend's apartment building is in the alley.
synonyms: alleyway
glosses: A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots of buildings.
examples: text: He hit one deep into the alley.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
synonyms: gap
glosses: The area between the outfielders.
topics: bowling
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
synonyms: bowling alley
glosses: An establishment where bowling is played.
topics: bowling
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
synonyms: lane
glosses: An elongated wooden strip of floor along which a bowling ball is rolled.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
tennis
glosses: The extra area between the sidelines or tramlines on a tennis court that is used for doubles matches.
examples: text: I know each lane and every alley green.
ref: 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:
english: Comus
translation: Comus
glosses: A walk or passage in a garden or park, bordered by rows of trees or bushes.
glosses: A passageway between rows of pews in a church.
qualifier: perspective drawing
glosses: Any passage having the entrance represented as wider than the exit, so as to give the appearance of length.
glosses: The space between two rows of compositors' stands in a printing office.
examples: text: […] alley of clowns had sprung like a fungus growth from the dung heap of the First World War.
ref: 2017, Charles William Jefford, Academia Nuts, page 78:
text: “[…] Something must've happened to him when he was little.”
“Which would give him a reason to hate them,” Oliver replied and was pushed aside by an alley of clowns. “Hey!”
“Sorry, kid. Didn't see you there,” one clown called over.
ref: 2021, T. K. Wrathbone, All Clowns Must Die!:
glosses: A group of clowns; the collective noun for clowns.
Synonyms: word: alley
word: alleyway
word: backs
word: bunnyrun
word: chare
word: chore
word: close
word: ennog
word: entry
word: fold
word: gangway
word: gant
word: gennel
word: ginnel
word: gunnel
word: gitty
word: gully
word: gullyway
word: hocket
word: jennel
word: jigger
word: jitty
word: lane
word: laneway
word: loke
word: passage
word: pend
word: rabbit run
word: shut
word: snickelway
word: snicket
word: tenfoot
word: twitchel
word: twitten
word: wynd
word: vennel
Hypernyms: word: street
Hyponyms: word: back alley
word: back street
word: blind alley
Derived terms: alley apple
alley ball
alley cat
alley crop
alleyed
alleygating
alleylike
alley stone
alleyway
back-alley
back alley
ball alley
blind alley
bowling alley
Carolina Alley
Dixie Alley
down someone's alley
Gasoline Alley
Hailstorm Alley
handball alley
Hoosier Alley
Hurricane Alley
Iceberg Alley
kilowatt alley
MiG Alley
O'Malley's Alley
Peacock Alley
peacock alley
power alley
right up someone's alley
shaft alley
sideshow alley
skittle alley
South Alley
Stroke Alley
Tornado Alley
Typhoon Alley
up someone's alley