1 street
Pronounced:
/ˈstri:t/
Function:
nounInflected forms:
plural streetsMeaning:
[count] 1 : a road in a city or town that has houses or other buildings on one or both sides ▪ They live on a busy/residential street. ▪ a deserted street ▪ a dead-end/one-way street ▪ You should look both ways before crossing the street. ▪ Trash littered the streets. ▪ The police car cruised up/down the street. ▪ People don't feel safe walking the streets (of the city) at night. [=don't feel safe walking outside in the city at night] ▪ our neighbor down the street [=our neighbor who lives farther down on our street] ▪ They live across the street (from us). [=they live across from us on the other side of the street] ▪ Many of our customers walk in off the street without having heard of us before. ▪ Angry citizens took to the streets [=went outside on the streets] to protest the war. ▪ He lost his job and eventually was living on the street(s). [=was homeless] —often used in names ▪ The store is at 84th Street and 35th Avenue. ▪ My address is 156 Elm Street. —sometimes used figuratively ▪ Word on the street is that the company is going out of business. [=people are saying that the company is going out of business] —see also easy street, fleet street, high street, main street, wall street
2 informal : a poor part of a city where there is a lot of crime —usually plural ▪ He is from the streets. ▪ the raw language of the streets
2 informal : a poor part of a city where there is a lot of crime —usually plural ▪ He is from the streets. ▪ the raw language of the streets
hit the streets —see 1hit
pound the streets —see 2pound
streets ahead of
Brit informal : much better than (other people or things) ▪ She is streets ahead of the other students.
the man in the street —see 1man
up someone's street
Brit informal : suited to someone's tastes or abilities ▪ The job is right up his street. [=the job suits him very well] ▪ Working with animals is right up her street. [=(chiefly US) right up her alley]
