motorway

motorway — noun

1. a wide road built for cars, buses, and trucks to travel at high speed over long

1.nounA2
Definition

a wide road built for cars, buses, and trucks to travel at high speed over long distances, especially in Britain and Ireland. Motorways have several lanes going each way so that traffic can keep moving, and drivers can only get on or off the road at special places called junctions.

Example

Priya drove for three hours on the M6 motorway from Birmingham to Manchester.

concrete UK motorway reference with route and city names

The accident closed the motorway for four hours between junctions 14 and 15.

collocation: close the motorway; junction numbering

Common collocations
  • join the motorway
  • leave the motorway
  • motorway junction
  • motorway service station
  • on the motorway
  • motorway network
Synonyms
  • highway

    more general term; in US English, the common word for any main road, including motorway-style roads

  • freeway

    US term for a wide, fast road with no traffic lights or intersections

  • expressway

    US term for a high-speed road, sometimes with fewer access restrictions than a motorway

Antonyms
  • B-road

    a narrow secondary road in Britain that connects smaller towns and villages, with much lower speed limits

Usage Note

This word is mainly used in British English. In the United States, roads of this type are called highways, freeways, or interstates. Motorway junctions are numbered, and service stations are placed at regular intervals along the route.

Common Mistakes

I took the motorway to work in downtown Chicago.
I took the interstate to work in downtown Chicago.
'motorway' is a British term; US English uses 'highway', 'freeway', or 'interstate'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Motorway is the standard British term for a wide, high-speed road with controlled access. Highway is a broader term used in both British and American English — in the UK it can include any main public road, while in the US it typically refers to any major road, including freeways. Freeway is the US-specific term for a divided, high-speed road with no traffic lights or at-grade intersections. Expressway can describe a high-speed road in both systems, but in the US it may sometimes have limited intersections rather than full access control. For a learner: if you are in Britain, use motorway; in the US, use freeway or interstate for the same kind of road. Example: "Take the M1 motorway north from London." / "Take the 405 freeway north from Los Angeles."

motorway ↗highway ↗freeway ↗expressway

Common collocations

Nouns

  • motorway junction
  • motorway service station
  • motorway network
  • motorway traffic
  • motorway lane

Phrases

  • join the motorway
  • leave the motorway
  • close the motorway
  • block the motorway

Prepositions

  • on the motorway
  • off the motorway
  • along the motorway

Etymology

LatinOld EnglishEnglish

Motorway is a compound formed from 'motor' (a machine that produces motion, from Latin motor 'mover') and 'way' (a path or road, from Old English weg). The word was first used in the early 20th century as cars became common, and it became the official British term for high-speed divided roads when the first motorway, the Preston Bypass (part of the M6), opened in 1958.