Meaning & use
an expressway
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A wide road built for fast traffic, with few or no places where other roads cross it.
Grammar: Countable: you can say an expressway, two expressways, the expressway.
Patterns
- drive on an expressway
- an expressway between two cities
- take an expressway into town
We took an expressway out of the city and reached the coast in two hours.
The new expressway cuts the trip between the two airports to forty minutes.
Trucks are not allowed on this expressway during the morning rush.
nouncountableAmerican
A road of this kind that you must pay to use, especially in some countries.
Grammar: Countable and often used with 'toll' to make the meaning clear.
Patterns
- a toll expressway
- pay a toll on an expressway
Drivers pay a toll to use the expressway into the city center.
The expressway was busy, but at least the toll booths were quick.
Word forms
| plural | expressways |
|---|
Common combinations
- a busy expressway
- The busy expressway was down to one lane after the crash.
- an expressway exit
- Take the next expressway exit and follow signs for the stadium.
- build an expressway
- The government plans to build an expressway along the coast.
- an expressway linking A and B
- There is now an expressway linking the port and the industrial zone.
- get on an expressway
- Get on the expressway at junction 4 and stay in the right lane.
Synonyms and how they differ
- freeway
- Very common in American English for a fast road with no traffic lights; 'expressway' is often used when the road may have tolls or a few crossings.
- motorway
- The usual British word; use it in British English writing instead of 'expressway'.
- highway
- A broader American word for any main public road, not only a fast one, so it is less specific than 'expressway'.
Word family
- express adjective
- Fast and direct, as in an express train or express service.
Commonly confused: an expressway or highway? an expressway or express?
an expressway vs highway
A highway is any main road; an expressway is specifically built for fast traffic with limited crossings.
an expressway vs express
'Express' means fast or direct (an express bus), while 'expressway' is the road itself.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Expressway' begins with a vowel sound, so the article is 'an'. Option 2 uses 'a' before a vowel sound, and options 3 and 4 put the article in the wrong place.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “an expressway”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.