Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to double-park

to double-park

11 3.7
To leave a car beside another stopped car, blocking traffic
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈdʌbəl pɑrk/
translation icon : estacionar en doble fila
  • If you double-park, you might block traffic and face a fine.
  • car double-parked
  • truck double-parked
  • delivery truck double-parked

Examples

  • Because they have made the Square a pedestrian mall and closed it to traffic, our cars are double-parked three blocks away.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Look, Officer, there's a truck double-parked there.

    Irma la Douce (1963)

  • Frank always lets me double park.

    I Smile Back (2015)

  • Hey, man, I'm double parked outside, man.

    Doctor Detroit (1983)

  • I was double parked, so I told the girl I had to go get Emma.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Or maybe just double park more often in NYC.

    Blog text (21)

  • What do you mean, you're double parked?

    Which Way Is Up? (1977)

  • The DeLorean is double-parked out front.

    Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie (2016)

  • Sandusky double-parked in front of his office.

    The Paper (1994)

  • They'd double-park in front of the hydrant, and nobody ever gave them a ticket.

    Fiction book (1990)

How Obstructive

to obstruct
119 5.1
to double-park
11 3.7
to park
819 1.0

Surface Forms

double-park infinitive
double-parked past
double-parked past participle
double-parking present participle
double-parks third person singular

Morphology

double-park = double + park (transparent) = double + park

Meaning is directly built from 'double' + 'park' — parking a vehicle alongside another (i.e., two vehicles side-by-side) — which is readily inferable by learners.

Etymology

Double-park is easy to imagine: double means 'two' and park means 'to stop and leave a vehicle', so it literally means to park a second vehicle beside one already parked. That's why to double-park is to stop next to another parked car, often blocking traffic and breaking parking rules.