Meaning & use
traffic cone
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A cone-shaped object, usually orange with a white band, put on a road to warn drivers or block an area.
Grammar: Countable: 'a traffic cone', 'two traffic cones'.
Patterns
- put out traffic cones
- a row of traffic cones
- hit a traffic cone
Workers placed traffic cones around the hole in the road.
A line of traffic cones guided cars into the left lane.
He swerved to avoid a traffic cone lying in the middle of the street.
nouncountableinformal
Such an object used informally as a marker, decoration, or symbol of roadwork.
Grammar: Countable and often used in the plural when talking about a group of them.
Patterns
- a stack of traffic cones
- steal a traffic cone
The students stacked traffic cones outside the dorm as a joke.
The band used giant traffic cones as stage decorations.
Word forms
| plural | traffic cones |
|---|
Common combinations
- put out traffic cones
- The crew put out traffic cones before starting repairs.
- a row of traffic cones
- A row of traffic cones closed off the right lane.
- orange traffic cones
- Orange traffic cones marked the edge of the construction zone.
- knock over a traffic cone
- The truck knocked over a traffic cone at the corner.
- behind the traffic cones
- Spectators stood behind the traffic cones and waited.
Synonyms and how they differ
- road cone
- Common in British English and means the same object; 'traffic cone' is the usual term in American English.
- safety cone
- A broader term for cones used in warehouses and parking lots, not only on roads.
- pylon
- In some regions a pylon is a small cone used to mark traffic, but the word also means a large tower, so it can be confusing.
Word family
Commonly confused: traffic cone or cone? traffic cone or traffic light?
traffic cone vs cone
'Cone' alone can mean an ice-cream cone or a pine cone; add 'traffic' when you mean the road object.
traffic cone vs traffic light
A traffic light controls traffic with colored signals, while a traffic cone is a physical marker on the ground.
Practice
What do road workers usually do with traffic cones?
Choose one answer.
Traffic cones are placed on roads to warn or guide drivers, so 'put them out to warn drivers' fits. The other options describe impossible or silly actions, not the real use of the object.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “traffic cone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.