A Freeway Is Free of Traffic Lights, Not of Charges
A freeway is an American high-speed road with no crossings and no stops. The free part refers to movement, and often to tolls as well.
A freeway is a divided highway with no traffic lights, no crossroads and no direct access from properties. The *free* is about free movement: traffic never stops. In much of the United States it also means free of tolls, which is why a toll road is never called a freeway.
- A controlled-access highway (American). *Take the freeway north.*
- A road free of tolls. *A freeway rather than a turnpike.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | freeway | A busy freeway. |
| Plural | freeways | City freeways. |
| British | motorway | The M4 motorway. |
| Related | expressway | An urban expressway. |
| Related | interchange | A cloverleaf interchange. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The freeway was backed up for miles.American English.
- Take the next exit off the freeway.Exit, not junction, in the United States.
- The city built freeways straight through old neighbourhoods.A recurring theme in urban history.
What the same road is called
- Freeway — United States (west and elsewhere)
- Expressway — United States and Canada, sometimes with some crossings
- Motorway — United Kingdom and Ireland
- Autobahn — Germany
- Autoroute / autostrada — France and Italy, usually tolled
A twentieth-century American compound of *free* and *way*, first used in the 1930s as cities began building roads with no intersections at all.
Freeway or highway?
Highway is any main road. A freeway is a highway with no crossings and no stops, entered only by ramps.
Are freeways always free?
Usually, but not always. Some have tolled express lanes. The strict definition is about access control, not price.