bypass road

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A road built to let traffic go around a town or busy area instead of through it.

   Grammar: Countable: you can say a bypass road, two bypass roads.

   Patterns

   • build a bypass road
   • take the bypass road
   • a bypass road around something

   The new bypass road takes heavy trucks away from the village center.

   Drivers can use the bypass road to avoid the morning traffic in town.

   They opened a bypass road around the old city walls last year.

2. 2nouncountable

   A road that goes around a place rather than through it, often used for a specific purpose such as avoiding a checkpoint.

   Grammar: Countable; often used with 'around' or 'past'.

   Patterns

   • a bypass road around something
   • a bypass road past something

   The ambulance took a bypass road around the accident scene.

   There is a small bypass road past the factory that few people know about.

Word forms

Common combinations

build a bypass road

The council plans to build a bypass road to reduce congestion.

take the bypass road

If you take the bypass road, you'll save about twenty minutes.

a new bypass road

A new bypass road opened last month, linking the two highways.

bypass road around the town

The bypass road around the town has eased traffic in the center.

Synonyms and how they differ

ring road

British term for a road that circles a town; 'bypass road' often suggests a route that avoids the center entirely.

detour

A temporary different route, often because of roadworks; a bypass road is a permanent road.

Word family

bypass verb

To go around something or avoid it.

bypass noun

A road that goes around a town, or a medical operation.

Commonly confused: bypass road or bypass?

Practice

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