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
Tom KonvickaExamples of alley in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebMichael Saponara, Billboard, 4 Apr. 2024
The next handful of scenes sees Mike determinedly walking through an alley, cops moving in on a location in the middle of the night and Mike crouching in front of Mitch’s tombstone.
—Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 28 Mar. 2024
Elections staffers have been harassed, and during a June 2022 election, someone hung a trail camera — the kind hunters use to track wildlife — in the alley behind the registrar’s office.
—Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2024
Students told the Star-Telegram strangers hang out in the alley behind their homes day and night, sometimes harassing them on their way to campus.
—James Hartley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 Mar. 2024
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
Noun
Matching luxury cars flank the pair before stunt doubles continue to fill the alley.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 4 Apr. 2024
The next handful of scenes sees Mike determinedly walking through an alley, cops moving in on a location in the middle of the night and Mike crouching in front of Mitch’s tombstone.
—Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 28 Mar. 2024
Elections staffers have been harassed, and during a June 2022 election, someone hung a trail camera — the kind hunters use to track wildlife — in the alley behind the registrar’s office.
—Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2024
Students told the Star-Telegram strangers hang out in the alley behind their homes day and night, sometimes harassing them on their way to campus.
—James Hartley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 Mar. 2024
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
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.
Dictionary Entries Near alley
Cite this Entry
“Alley.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alley. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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