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alley1 definition

al·ley (al′ē)

noun pl. alleys -·leys

  1. a lane in a garden or park, bordered by trees or shrubs
  2. a narrow street or walk, specif., a lane behind or alongside a row of buildings or between two rows of buildings that face on adjacent streets
  3. Baseball the part of the outfield between center field and either left field or right field
    also power alley
  4. Bowling lane (senses & )
  5. Tennis either of the narrow lanes, on opposite sides of the court, that extend the singles area for playing doubles

Etymology: ME aly < OFr alee < aler (Fr aller), to go < ML alare, contr. < L ambulare, to walk: see amble

alley Idioms

up someone's alley

or down someone's alley☆
Slang suited to someone's tastes or abilities
alley2 definition

al·ley (al′ē)

noun pl. alleys -·leys

a fine marble used as the shooter in playing marbles

Etymology: < alabaster, formerly used for marbles

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms alley idiom

alley Synonyms

alley

n.

back street, lane, rear way; see road 1.

up<strong> <em>or</em> </strong>down one's alley

suited to one's abilities, suited to one's tastes, suited to one's interests, enjoyable; see fit 1.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

alley Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • bowl: Artificial ice rink, indoor swimming pool, indoor tennis, squash, fitness center, bowling alley.

Adjective modifier

  • blind: The blind alley they lead us down is a dead end.

Modifies a noun

  • oop: Nyquist - alley oop flair at the bike show 2004.

Noun used with modifier

  • skittle: Hence you crawl out from under the safety of a particularly large boulder to find yourself at the base of the skittle alley.
alley usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

alley quotes

Dashiell Hammett took murder out of theVenetian vase and dropped it into the alley.

-Chandler, Raymond

alley quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"alley." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/alley>

APA Style

alley. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/alley

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