street

[street] /strit/

noun

a public thoroughfare, usually paved, in a village, town, or city, including the sidewalk or sidewalks.

such a thoroughfare together with adjacent buildings, lots, etc.:

Houses, lawns, and trees composed a very pleasant street.

the roadway of such a thoroughfare, as distinguished from the sidewalk:

to cross a street.

a main way or thoroughfare, as distinguished from a lane, alley, or the like.

the inhabitants or frequenters of a street:

The whole street gossiped about the new neighbors.

the Street, Informal.

the section of a city associated with a given profession or trade, especially when concerned with business or finance, as Wall Street.
the principal theater and entertainment district of any of a number of U.S. cities.

adjective

of, on, or adjoining a street:

a street door just off the sidewalk.

taking place or appearing on the street:

street fight; street musicians.

coarse; crude; vulgar:

street language.

10.

suitable for everyday wear:

street clothes; street dress.

11.

retail:

the street price of a new computer; the street value of a drug.

Idioms

12.

on / in the street,

without a home:
You'll be out on the street if the rent isn't paid.
without a job or occupation; idle.
out of prison or police custody; at liberty.

13.

up one's street, British, alley¹ (def 7).

Origin

before 900; Middle English; Old English strēt, strǣt; cognate with Dutch straat, German Strasse; all ≪ Latin (via) strāta paved (road); see stratum

Related forms

streetless, adjective

streetlike, adjective

interstreet, adjective

Synonyms

1. roadway, concourse. Street, alley, avenue, boulevard all refer to public ways or roads in municipal areas. A street is a road in a village, town, or city, especially a road lined with buildings. An alley is a narrow street or footway, especially at the rear of or between rows of buildings or lots. An avenue is properly a prominent street, often one bordered by fine residences and impressive buildings, or with a row of trees on each side. A boulevard is a beautiful, broad street, lined with rows of stately trees, especially used as a promenade. In some cities street and avenue are used interchangeably, the only difference being that those running one direction (say, north and south) are given one designation and those crossing them are given the other.

British Dictionary definitions for on the street

street

/striːt/

noun

(capital when part of a name) a public road that is usually lined with buildings, esp in a town: Oxford Street
(as modifier): a street directory

the buildings lining a street

the part of the road between the pavements, used by vehicles

the people living, working, etc, in a particular street

(modifier) of or relating to the urban counterculture: street style, street drug

man in the street, an ordinary or average citizen

on the streets

earning a living as a prostitute
homeless

(informal) streets ahead of, superior to, more advanced than, etc

(informal) streets apart, markedly different

10.

(informal) up one's street, right up one's street, (just) what one knows or likes best

verb (transitive)

11.

(Austral) to outdistance

Word Origin

Old English strǣt, from Latin via strāta paved way (strāta, from strātus, past participle of sternere to stretch out); compare Old Frisian strēte, Old High German strāza; see stratus

Word Origin and History for on the street

street

Old English stret (Mercian, Kentish), stræt (West Saxon) "street, high road," an early West Germanic borrowing from Late Latin strata, used elliptically for via strata "paved road," from fem. past participle of Latin sternere "lay down, spread out, pave," from PIE *stre-to- "to stretch, extend," from root *stere- "to spread, extend, stretch out" (see structure (n.)). The Latin is also the source of Spanish estrada, Old French estrée, Italian strada.

"The normal term in OE for a paved way or Roman road, later extended to other roads, urban streets, and in SE dialects to a street of dwellings, a straggling village or hamlet" [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names]. Originally of Roman roads (e.g. Watling Street, Icknield Street). "In the Middle Ages, a road or way was merely a direction in which people rode or went, the name street being reserved for the made road." [Weekley] Used since c.1400 to mean "the people in the street;" modern sense of "the realm of the people as the source of political support" dates from 1931. Man in the street "ordinary person, non-expert" is attested from 1831. Street people "the homeless" is from 1967; street smarts is from 1972; street-credibility is from 1979.

Slang definitions & phrases for on the street

street

modifier

Having to do with the streets and the street life of a city, esp of a ghetto: Curtis Sliwa, founder of the street-tough Guardian Angels/ The defendant was not some street punk with a long criminal record (1967+)

on the street in the Bible

The street called "Straight" at Damascus (Acts 9:11) is "a long broad street, running from east to west, about a mile in length, and forming the principal thoroughfare in the city." In Oriental towns streets are usually narrow and irregular and filthy (Ps. 18:42; Isa. 10:6). "It is remarkable," says Porter, "that all the important cities of Palestine and Syria Samaria, Caesarea, Gerasa, Bozrah, Damascus, Palmyra, had their 'straight streets' running through the centre of the city, and lined with stately rows of columns. The most perfect now remaining are those of Palmyra and Gerasa, where long ranges of the columns still stand.", Through Samaria, etc.

Idioms and Phrases with on the street

on the street

Also, in the street.

Without a job, unemployed, as in After they fired her she was on the street for two years. [ First half of 1900s ]

Without a regular place of residence, homeless, as in It's terrible to be on the street in winter. [ Mid-1800s ]

Released from prison, as in One more year and he'll be back in the street. [ First half of 1900s ]

street

see: