Road (?), n. [AS. rād
a riding, that on which
one rides or travels, a road, fr. rīdan to
ride. See Ride, and cf. Raid.]
1. A journey, or
stage of a journey. [Obs.]
With easy roads he came to
Leicester.
Shak. 2. An inroad; an
invasion; a raid. [Obs.] Spenser.
3. A place where one may ride;
an open way
or public passage for vehicles, persons,
and animals; a track for travel, forming a means of communication between
one city, town, or place, and another.
The most villainous house in all the London road.
Shak. &fist; The
word is generally applied to highways,
and as a generic term it includes highway, street, and lane.
4. [Possibly akin to Icel. reiði the rigging of a
ship, E. ready.] A place where ships may ride at anchor at some distance from the shore; a roadstead; -- often in the plural; as, Hampton
Roads. Shak.
Now strike your saile, ye jolly mariners,
For we be come unto a quiet
rode [road].
Spenser. On, or Upon, the road, traveling or passing over a road; coming or going; on the
way.
My hat and wig will soon be
here,
They are upon the road.
Cowper. -- Road agent, a highwayman, especially
on the stage routes of the unsettled western parts of the United
States; -- a humorous euphemism. [Western
U.S.]
The highway robber -- road agent he is
quaintly called.
The century. -- Road book, a guidebook in respect to
roads and distances. -- Road metal, the broken, stone used in macadamizing
roads. -- Road roller, a heavy roller, or combinations of rollers, for making earth, macadam, or concrete roads smooth and compact. -- often driven by steam. -- Road runner (Zoöl.), the chaparral cock. -- Road steamer, a locomotive engine adapted to running on common roads. -- To go on the road, to engage in the
business of a commercial traveler. [Colloq.] -- To take the road, to begin or engage in traveling. -- To take to the road, to engage in
robbery upon the highways.
Syn. -- Way; highway; street; lane; pathway; route; passage; course. See Way.
Hear it pronounced