Skip to main content
alley

alley

349 1.0
A narrow street between buildings, often behind shops or houses
  • noun
  • /ˈæli/
translation icon : callejón
  • The children played hide and seek in the narrow alley between the old houses.
  • a back alley
  • a narrow alley
  • a dark alley

We'll go to the cafe, the alleys, said Dick.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • I was playing basketball when he drove down the alley and stopped by the garage.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Wow, your yard is the perfect size, and there's plenty of access from the back alley.

  • And this is the alley in which Iron Land is located.

  • Get to the back alley.

  • Do you want me to step out in the alley?

  • I noticed by coincidence, in the alley behind Flower Street

  • One of our patrols spotted him in the alley.

  • I have found a quiet alley in Venice because Venice is rammed.

  • Look, Vern, I need you to meet me at Cortlandt Alley in 10 minutes, please.

  • Benny parks the taxi by a pedestrian alley that is too narrow for cars.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

alleyway
vsalley
37 2.7

A narrow passage between buildings, often behind them

is a general narrow street not defined by tall enclosing walls
back alley
vsalley
  • US
16 2.7

A narrow street behind buildings used as a shortcut

is more general and does not imply delivery use or hidden location
back street
vsalley
5 3.3

A narrow street behind main streets that few people use

is a simple narrow passage rather than a generally quiet or secluded road
laneway
vsalley
  • UK
1 4.4

A narrow passage between buildings in a town or city

is broader, not limited to urban roads or town contexts
snicket
vsalley
  • UK
1 9.9

A narrow passage between buildings that people use as a shortcut

is the general term used widely rather than regionally specific
areaway
vsalley
9.9

A low open space between or beside buildings that gives light and access to a basement

is mainly a route for movement rather than a light or basement access space

Idioms

1 8.1

Doing something that leads nowhere useful

Compounds

53 2.7

A building with lanes where people roll heavy balls to knock down pins

16 2.7

A narrow street behind buildings used as a shortcut

blind alley
  • Informal
4 6.2

A plan that leads nowhere and cannot succeed

4 2.9

A cat with no home that lives on the streets

An area in New York where many popular songwriters and music publishers worked in the early 1900s

A street closed at one end with only one way in or out

7.0

A long narrow lane where people roll a ball to knock down pins

How Narrow

alley
349 1.0
lane
405 1.0
street
1.0
road
1.0

Surface Forms

alley singular
alleys plural

Etymology

The word alley comes from the old French alée 'a walk' and the verb aller 'to go', so it originally meant a place to walk. That's why an alley is a narrow passage or street you can 'go' through, often between or behind buildings.