alley

1 of 2

noun (1)

al·​ley ˈa-lē How to pronounce alley (audio)
plural alleys
1
: a garden or park walk bordered by trees or bushes
2
a(1)
: a grassed enclosure for bowling or skittles
(2)
: a hardwood lane for bowling
also : a room or building housing a group of such lanes
b
: the space on each side of a tennis doubles court between the sideline and the service sideline
c
: an area in a baseball outfield between two outfielders when they are in normal positions
hit a line drive into the alley
3
: a narrow street
especially : a thoroughfare through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots or buildings
4
: an extensive region where destructive natural phenomena of a specified type (such as tornadoes) occur often or are likely to occur
The most obvious tornado alley extends from the plains of northwest Texas eastward into north Texas and then northward across Oklahoma, Kansas, and eastern Nebraska.Tom Konvicka

alley

2 of 2

noun (2)

plural alleys
: a playing marble
especially : one of superior quality
Phrases
up one's alley or less commonly down one's alley
: suited to one's own tastes or abilities
a job that's right up her alley

Examples of alley in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Through an embodied camera eye that moves freely in the in-between place that is an alley connecting two streets, Fortune evokes a sense of magical realism and offers texture to the meditation on the Chinese American identity, which can also be characterized as a liminal space. Addie Morfoot, Variety, 14 Mar. 2024 Nestled between an alley and the 2300 block of South Santa Fe Drive, the new community includes 60 tiny homes and two community buildings on a sliver of formerly vacant land owned by the Colorado Department of Transportation. Joe Rubino, The Denver Post, 12 Mar. 2024 Those people judged guilty were often marched to a field or an alley, sometimes in groups, and executed by firing squad. Anand Gopal, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Her purse was found a day after the car, in an alley where one of two early suspects was known to buy drugs. Neal Rubin, Detroit Free Press, 3 Mar. 2024 Wooden, Norman, and the prospect instead circled a pair of orange crates pushed together for a table in the alley outside the back door and Johnson draped a tablecloth over the wood slats of the boxes. Scott Howard-Cooper., Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2024 Stanley said in an interview Tuesday that the kit was admitted to the center on Feb. 29 after a man walking his dog found her in an alley in Richmond. Denise Lavoie, Fortune, 13 Mar. 2024 Eisner turned off the High Street next to University College and opposite All Souls College—the heart of medieval Oxford, where students have messed around for eight hundred years—into an alley just wide enough for a bike or two. Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2024 The Japanese city of Kyoto is banning tourists from some private alleys in its geisha district. Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 8 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'alley.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Anglo-French alee, from aler to go

Noun (2)

by shortening and alteration from alabaster

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1720, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of alley was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near alley

Cite this Entry

“Alley.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alley. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

alley

noun
al·​ley
ˈal-ē
plural alleys
1
: a garden or park walk bordered by trees or bushes
2
: a narrow wooden floor on which balls are rolled in bowling
also : a room or building housing a number of such alleys
3
: a narrow street or passageway between buildings

More from Merriam-Webster on alley

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!