Meaning & use
divided highway
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Meaning
nouncountableAmerican
A main road with a strip of grass, a barrier or a wall between the lanes going in opposite directions.
Grammar: Countable: they drove along a divided highway.
Patterns
- on a divided highway
- drive along a divided highway
The accident happened on a divided highway near the city.
A divided highway is generally safer than a two-lane road.
We turned off the divided highway to find a gas station.
Word forms
| plural | divided highways |
|---|
Common combinations
- four-lane divided highway
- The town sits beside a four-lane divided highway.
- on a divided highway
- Drivers should stay alert on a divided highway.
- build a divided highway
- The state plans to build a divided highway across the valley.
- cross a divided highway
- Pedestrians cannot easily cross a divided highway.
- rural divided highway
- A rural divided highway cuts through the farmland.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dual carriageway
- Dual carriageway is the British term for roughly the same kind of road.
- expressway
- An expressway has limited access and fewer junctions, while a divided highway may still have crossings.
- freeway
- A freeway has no tolls and fully controlled access, whereas a divided highway can have intersections.
- interstate
- Interstate is a specific US highway in the national system, not any divided road.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: divided highway or dual carriageway? divided highway or freeway?
divided highway vs dual carriageway
This is the British equivalent, and in the UK divided highway is not usual.
divided highway vs freeway
A freeway is a stricter kind of road with no crossings; a divided highway is simply a road with a median.
Practice
On a ___, a barrier or grass strip separates traffic going in opposite directions.
Choose one answer.
A divided highway has a median between opposite lanes. A one-way street has traffic in only one direction, so no median is needed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “divided highway”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.