Road

road
    n 1: an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
         [syn: {road}, {route}]
    2: a way or means to achieve something; "the road to fame"
    

Road \Road\ (r[=o]), n. [AS. r[=a]d a riding, that on which one
   rides or travels, a road, fr. r[imac]dan to ride. See {Ride},
   and cf. {Raid}.]
   1. A journey, or stage of a journey. [Obs.]
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            With easy roads he came to Leicester. --Shak.
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   2. An inroad; an invasion; a raid. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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   3. A place where one may ride; an open way or public passage
      for vehicles, persons, and animals; a track for travel,
      forming a means of communication between one city, town,
      or place, and another.
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            The most villainous house in all the London road.
                                                  --Shak.
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   Note: The word is generally applied to highways, and as a
         generic term it includes highway, street, and lane.
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   4. [Possibly akin to Icel. rei[eth]i the rigging of a ship,
      E. ready.] A place where ships may ride at anchor at some
      distance from the shore; a roadstead; -- often in the
      plural; as, Hampton Roads. --Shak.
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            Now strike your saile, ye jolly mariners,
            For we be come unto a quiet rode [road]. --Spenser.
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   {On the road}, or {Uponthe road}, traveling or passing over a
      road; coming or going; traveling; on the way.
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            My hat and wig will soon be here,
            They are upon the road.               --Cowper.
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   {Road agent}, a highwayman, especially on the stage routes of
      the unsettled western parts of the United States; -- a
      humorous euphemism. [Western U.S.]
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            The highway robber -- road agent he is quaintly
            called.                               --The century.
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   {Road book}, a guidebook in respect to roads and distances.
      

   {road kill} See {roadkill} in the vocabulary.

   {Road metal}, the broken, stone used in macadamizing roads.
      

   {Road roller}, a heavy roller, or combinations of rollers,
      for making earth, macadam, or concrete roads smooth and
      compact. -- often driven by steam.

   {Road runner} (Zool.), the chaparral cock.

   {Road steamer}, a locomotive engine adapted to running on
      common roads.

   {To go on the road}, to engage in the business of a
      commercial traveler. [Colloq.]

   {To take the road}, to begin or engage in traveling.

   {To take to the road}, to engage in robbery upon the
      highways.
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   Syn: Way; highway; street; lane; pathway; route; passage;
        course. See {Way}.
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Break \Break\ (br[=a]k), v. t. [imp. {broke} (br[=o]k), (Obs.
   {Brake}); p. p. {Broken} (br[=o]"k'n), (Obs. {Broke}); p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Breaking}.] [OE. breken, AS. brecan; akin to OS.
   brekan, D. breken, OHG. brehhan, G. brechen, Icel. braka to
   creak, Sw. braka, br[aum]kka to crack, Dan. br[ae]kke to
   break, Goth. brikan to break, L. frangere. Cf. {Bray} to
   pound, {Breach}, {Fragile}.]
   1. To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with
      violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal;
      to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock.
      --Shak.
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   2. To lay open as by breaking; to divide; as, to break a
      package of goods.
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   3. To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or
      communicate.
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            Katharine, break thy mind to me.      --Shak.
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   4. To infringe or violate, as an obligation, law, or promise.
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            Out, out, hyena! these are thy wonted arts . . .
            To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray.
                                                  --Milton
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   5. To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or
      terminate; as, to break silence; to break one's sleep; to
      break one's journey.
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            Go, release them, Ariel;
            My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore.
                                                  --Shak.
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   6. To destroy the completeness of; to remove a part from; as,
      to break a set.
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   7. To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to
      pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British
      squares.
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   8. To shatter to pieces; to reduce to fragments.
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            The victim broke in pieces the musical instruments
            with which he had solaced the hours of captivity.
                                                  --Prescott.
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   9. To exchange for other money or currency of smaller
      denomination; as, to break a five dollar bill.
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   10. To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of; as,
       to break flax.
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   11. To weaken or impair, as health, spirit, or mind.
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             An old man, broken with the storms of state.
                                                  --Shak.
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   12. To diminish the force of; to lessen the shock of, as a
       fall or blow.
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             I'll rather leap down first, and break your fall.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   13. To impart, as news or information; to broach; -- with to,
       and often with a modified word implying some reserve; as,
       to break the news gently to the widow; to break a purpose
       cautiously to a friend.
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   14. To tame; to reduce to subjection; to make tractable; to
       discipline; as, to break a horse to the harness or
       saddle. "To break a colt." --Spenser.
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             Why, then thou canst not break her to the lute?
                                                  --Shak.
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   15. To destroy the financial credit of; to make bankrupt; to
       ruin.
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             With arts like these rich Matho, when he speaks,
             Attracts all fees, and little lawyers breaks.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   16. To destroy the official character and standing of; to
       cashier; to dismiss.
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             I see a great officer broken.        --Swift.
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   Note: With prepositions or adverbs: 
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   {To break down}.
       (a) To crush; to overwhelm; as, to break down one's
           strength; to break down opposition.
       (b) To remove, or open a way through, by breaking; as, to
           break down a door or wall.

   {To break in}.
       (a) To force in; as, to break in a door.
       (b) To train; to discipline; as, a horse well broken in.
           

   {To break of}, to rid of; to cause to abandon; as, to break
      one of a habit.

   {To break off}.
       (a) To separate by breaking; as, to break off a twig.
       (b) To stop suddenly; to abandon. "Break off thy sins by
           righteousness." --Dan. iv. 27.

   {To break open}, to open by breaking. "Open the door, or I
      will break it open." --Shak.

   {To break out}, to take or force out by breaking; as, to
      break out a pane of glass.

   {To break out a cargo}, to unstow a cargo, so as to unload it
      easily.

   {To break through}.
       (a) To make an opening through, as, as by violence or the
           force of gravity; to pass violently through; as, to
           break through the enemy's lines; to break through the
           ice.
       (b) To disregard; as, to break through the ceremony.

   {To break up}.
       (a) To separate into parts; to plow (new or fallow
           ground). "Break up this capon." --Shak. "Break up
           your fallow ground." --Jer. iv. 3.
       (b) To dissolve; to put an end to. "Break up the court."
           --Shak.

   {To break} (one) {all up}, to unsettle or disconcert
      completely; to upset. [Colloq.]
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   Note: With an immediate object: 
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   {To break the back}.
       (a) To dislocate the backbone; hence, to disable totally.
       (b) To get through the worst part of; as, to break the
           back of a difficult undertaking.

   {To break bulk}, to destroy the entirety of a load by
      removing a portion of it; to begin to unload; also, to
      transfer in detail, as from boats to cars.

   {To break a code} to discover a method to convert coded
      messages into the original understandable text.

   {To break cover}, to burst forth from a protecting
      concealment, as game when hunted.

   {To break a deer} or {To break a stag}, to cut it up and
      apportion the parts among those entitled to a share.

   {To break fast}, to partake of food after abstinence. See
      {Breakfast}.

   {To break ground}.
       (a) To open the earth as for planting; to commence
           excavation, as for building, siege operations, and
           the like; as, to break ground for a foundation, a
           canal, or a railroad.
       (b) Fig.: To begin to execute any plan.
       (c) (Naut.) To release the anchor from the bottom.

   {To break the heart}, to crush or overwhelm (one) with grief.
      

   {To break a house} (Law), to remove or set aside with
      violence and a felonious intent any part of a house or of
      the fastenings provided to secure it.

   {To break the ice}, to get through first difficulties; to
      overcome obstacles and make a beginning; to introduce a
      subject.

   {To break jail}, to escape from confinement in jail, usually
      by forcible means.

   {To break a jest}, to utter a jest. "Patroclus . . . the
      livelong day breaks scurril jests." --Shak.

   {To break joints}, to lay or arrange bricks, shingles, etc.,
      so that the joints in one course shall not coincide with
      those in the preceding course.

   {To break a lance}, to engage in a tilt or contest.

   {To break the neck}, to dislocate the joints of the neck.

   {To break no squares}, to create no trouble. [Obs.]

   {To break a path}, {road}, etc., to open a way through
      obstacles by force or labor.

   {To break upon a wheel}, to execute or torture, as a criminal
      by stretching him upon a wheel, and breaking his limbs
      with an iron bar; -- a mode of punishment formerly
      employed in some countries.

   {To break wind}, to give vent to wind from the anus.
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   Syn: To dispart; rend; tear; shatter; batter; violate;
        infringe; demolish; destroy; burst; dislocate.
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ROAD, n.  A strip of land along which one may pass from where it is
too tiresome to be to where it is futile to go.

    All roads, howsoe'er they diverge, lead to Rome,
    Whence, thank the good Lord, at least one leads back home.
                                                        Borey the Bald
    

Road
(1 Sam. 27:10; R.V., "raid"), an inroad, an incursion. This word
is never used in Scripture in the sense of a way or path.
    

ROAD. A passage through the country for the use of the people. 3 Yeates, 
421. 
     2. Roads are public or private. Public roads are laid out by public 
authority, or dedicated by individuals to public use. The public have the 
use of such roads, but the owner of the land over which they are made and 
the owners of land bounded on the highway, have, prima facie, a fee in such 
highway, ad medium filum vice, subject to the easement in favor of the 
public. 1 Conn. 193; 11 Conn. 60; 2 John. 357 15 John. 447. But where the 
boundary excludes the highway, it is, of course, excluded. 11 Pick. 193. See 
13 Mass. 259. The proprietor of the soil, is therefore entitled to all the 
fruits which grow by its side; 16 Mass. 366, 7; and to all the mineral 
wealth it contains. 1 Rolle, 392, 1. 5; 4 Day, R. 328; 1 Conn'. Rep, 103; 6 
Mass. R. 454; 4 Mass, R. 427; 15 Johns. Rep. 447, 583; 2 Johns. R. 357; Com. 
Dig. Chimin, A 2; 6 Pet. 498; 1 Sumn. 21; 10 Pet. 25; 6 Pick. 57; 6 Mass. 
454; 12 Wend. 98. 
     3. There are public roads, such as turnpikes and railroads, which are 
constructed by public authority, or by corporations. These are kept in good 
order by the respective companies to which they belong, and persons 
travelling on them, with animals and vehicles, are required to pay toll. In 
general these companies have only a right of passage over the land, which 
remains the property, subject to the easement, of the owner at the time the 
road was made or of his heirs or assigns. 
     4. Private roads are, such as are used for private individuals only, 
and are not wanted for the public generally. Sometimes roads of this kind 
are wanted for the accommodation of land otherwise enclosed and without 
access to public roads. The soil of such roads belongs to the owner of the 
land over which they are made. 
     5. Public roads are kept in repair at the public expense, and private 
roads by those who use them. Vide Domain; Way. 13 Mass. 256; 1 Sumn. Rep. 
21; 2 Hill. Ab. c. 7; 1 Pick. R. 122; 2 Mass. R. 127 6 Mass. R. 454; 4 Mass. 
R. 427; 15 Mass. Rep. 33; 3 Rawle, R. 495; 1 N. H. Rep. 16; 1 McCord, R. 67; 
1 Conn. R. 103; 2 John. R. 357; 1 John. Rep. 447; 15 John. R. 483; 4 Day, 
Rep. 330; 2 Bailey, Rep. 271; 1 Burr. 133; 7 B. & Cr. 304; 11 Price R. 736; 
7 Taunt. R. 39; Str. 1004. 1 Shepl. R. 250; 5 Conn. Rep. 528; 8 Pick. R. 
473; Crabb, R. P. Sec. 102-104. 
    

ROAD, mar. law. A road is defined by Lord Hale to be an open passage of the 
sea, which, from the situation of the adjacent land, and its own depth and 
wideness, affords a secure place for the common riding and anchoring of 
vessels. Hale de Port. Mar. p. 2, c. 2. This word, however, does not appear 
to have a very definite meaning. 2 Chit. Com. Law, 4, 5. 
    

177 Moby Thesaurus words for "road":
      Autobahn, US highway, access, air lane, alley, alleyway, anchorage,
      anchorage ground, approach, approaches, arm, armlet, arterial,
      arterial highway, arterial street, artery, autoroute, autostrada,
      avenue, basin, bay, bayou, beat, belt, belt highway, berth, bight,
      blind alley, boca, boulevard, breakwater, bulkhead, bypass, byway,
      camino real, carriageway, causeway, causey, channel, chaussee,
      chuck, circuit, circumferential, close, corduroy road, county road,
      course, court, cove, creek, crescent, cul-de-sac, dead-end street,
      dike, direction, dirt road, dock, dockage, dockyard, drag, drive,
      driveway, dry dock, embankment, entree, estuary, euripus,
      expressway, fairway, fjord, flight path, freeway, frith,
      gravel road, groin, gulf, gut, harbor, harborage, haven, highroad,
      highway, highways and byways, inlet, interstate highway, itinerary,
      jetty, jutty, kyle, landing, landing place, landing stage, lane,
      line, local road, loch, main drag, main road, marina, means,
      method, mews, mole, moorings, motorway, mouth, narrow, narrow seas,
      narrows, natural harbor, orbit, parkway, passage, path, pave,
      paved road, pier, pike, place, plank road, port, primary highway,
      primrose path, private road, procedure, protected anchorage, quay,
      reach, riding, right-of-way, ring road, roadbed, roads, roadstead,
      roadway, round, route, route nationale, row, royal road, run,
      sea lane, seaport, seawall, seaway, secondary road, ship route,
      shipyard, shortcut, slip, sound, speedway, state highway,
      steamer track, strait, straits, street, superhighway, technique,
      terrace, thoroughfare, through street, thruway, toll road, tour,
      township road, track, trade route, traject, trajectory, trajet,
      turnpike, walk, waterway, way, wharf, wynd