alley
Pronunciation: /ˈæl.i/
The English word “alley” has 11 meanings listed here.
noun
- A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots of buildings.
- The area between the outfielders.
- An establishment where bowling is played.
- An elongated wooden strip of floor along which a bowling ball is rolled.
- The extra area between the sidelines or tramlines on a tennis court that is used for doubles matches.
- A walk or passage in a garden or park, bordered by rows of trees or bushes.
- A passageway between rows of pews in a church.
- Any passage having the entrance represented as wider than the exit, so as to give the appearance of length.
- The space between two rows of compositors' stands in a printing office.
- A group of clowns; the collective noun for clowns.
- A marble (small ball used in games).
Etymology
From Middle English aleye, from Anglo-Norman aleie, feminine of alé, past participle of aler (“to go”) (French aller). Doublet of allée.
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.