alley


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alley

a passage, a narrow back street: Our garage is off the back alley.
Not to be confused with:
allay – soften, assuage: lay to rest or lull into a sense of security: She tried to allay her child’s fears.
alloy – a lower-quality metal mixed with a more valuable one; to debase, impair, or adulterate; fusion, blend, composite: Coins are often alloys.
ally – unify, join; a partner, friend, or confederate: Canada was our ally in World War II.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

al·ley 1

 (ăl′ē)
n. pl. al·leys
1. A narrow street or passageway between or behind city buildings.
2. A path between flower beds or trees in a garden or park.
3. Sports
a. A straight narrow course or track, especially a bowling alley.
b. Either of the parallel lanes at the sides of a tennis court, which widen the inbounds area for doubles play.
Idiom:
up (one's) alley Informal
Compatible with one's interests or qualifications: an assignment that is right up your alley.
[Middle English alei, from Old French alee, from aler, to walk, from Latin ambulāre; see ambulate.]

al·ley 2

 (ăl′ē)
n. pl. al·leys Games
A large playing marble, often used as the shooter.
[Short for alabaster.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

alley

(ˈælɪ)
n
1. a narrow lane or passage, esp one between or behind buildings
2. (Bowls & Bowling) See bowling alley
3. (Tennis) tennis chiefly US the space between the singles and doubles sidelines
4. a walk in a park or garden, esp one lined with trees or bushes
5. up one's alley down one's alley See street10
[C14: from Old French alee, from aler to go, ultimately from Latin ambulāre to walk]

alley

(ˈælɪ)
n
(Individual Sports, other than specified) a large playing marble
[C18: shortened and changed from alabaster]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

al•ley1

(ˈæl i)

n., pl. -leys.
1. a passage, as behind a row of houses, permitting access from the street to backyards, garages, etc.
2. a narrow back street.
3. a walk, as in a garden, enclosed with hedges or shrubbery.
4. Bowling.
a. a long, narrow, wooden lane or floor along which the ball is rolled.
b. (often pl.) a building for bowling.
c. bowling green.
5. Rare. an aisle.
Idioms:
(right) up or down one's alley, highly compatible with one's interests or abilities.
[1350–1400; < Middle French alee walk, passage, derivative of feminine of ale, past participle of aler to walk]

al•ley2

(ˈæl i)

n., pl. -leys. Northeastern U.S.
1. a large and choice playing marble.
2. any playing marble.
[1710–20; probably al (abaster) + -y2, sp. to conform with alley1]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.alley - a narrow street with walls on both sidesalley - a narrow street with walls on both sides
alleyway, back street
street - a thoroughfare (usually including sidewalks) that is lined with buildings; "they walked the streets of the small town"; "he lives on Nassau Street"
2.alley - a lane down which a bowling ball is rolled toward pinsalley - a lane down which a bowling ball is rolled toward pins
skittle alley, bowling alley
bowling equipment - equipment used in bowling
lane - a well-defined track or path; for e.g. swimmers or lines of traffic
foul line - a line across a bowling alley that a bowler must not cross
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

alley

noun passage, walk, lane, pathway, alleyway, passageway, backstreet He dragged her into an alley and tied her up.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
زقاقزُقَاقزِقَاقمَجاز لُعْبَة البولِنْغ
uličkadráha
baggadebanegydesmøge
callejóncallejuelapista (de bolos)
kuja
aleja
sikátor
gang
brautsund
路地
골목
gatvelėskersgatvis
alejabumbotavašaura ieliņa
dráhaulička
uličica
gränd
ตรอก
dar sokakdar ve uzun alangeçitpasaj
ngõ

alley

[ˈælɪ]
A. N
1. (between buildings) → callejón m, callejuela f; (in garden, park) → paseo m
this is right up my alley → esto es lo que me va, esto es lo mío
2. (US) (Tennis) → banda f lateral para dobles
see also blind E
see also bowling B
B. CPD alley cat N (also fig) → gato/a m/f callejero/a
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

alley

[ˈæli] n
(= street) → ruelle f
(in garden) → allée falley cat n → chat m de gouttière
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

alley

n
(between buildings) → (enge) Gasse; (between gardens) → Weg m, → Pfad m; (in garden) → Laubengang m
(= bowling alley, skittle alley) → Bahn f

alley

:
alley cat
n → streunende Katze; to fight like alleys → sich in den Haaren liegen; she’s got the morals of an alley (inf) → sie treibts mit jedem
alleyway
n → Durchgang m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

alley

[ˈælɪ] n (between buildings) → vicolo; (in garden, park) → vialetto (Am) (Tennis) → corridoio
blind alley → vicolo cieco
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

alley

(ˈӕli) noun
1. (often ˈalleyway) a narrow street in a city etc (usually not wide enough for vehicles).
2. a long narrow area used for the games of bowling or skittles. a bowling alley.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

alley

→ زُقَاق ulička gyde Gasse δρομάκι callejón kuja allée aleja vicolo 路地 골목 steegje bakgate uliczka viela аллея gränd ตรอก dar sokak ngõ 胡同
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
Mentioned in ?
References in classic literature ?
A very little boy stood upon a heap of gravel for the honor of Rum Alley. He was throwing stones at howling urchins from Devil's Row who were circling madly about the heap and pelting at him.
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They entered; behind a glass window, by the light of the cardinal's lantern, which had been placed on the floor in the midst of the gallery, they saw the orange and pomegranate trees of the Castle of Rueil, in long lines, forming one great alley and two smaller side alleys.
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"So I see," said Sancho, "and God grant we may not light upon our graves; it is no good sign to find oneself wandering in a graveyard at this time of night; and that, after my telling your worship, if I don't mistake, that the house of this lady will be in an alley without an outlet."
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As the time passed, I worked as boy-helper on an ice-wagon, set up pins in a bowling alley with a saloon attached, and swept out saloons at Sunday picnic grounds.
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"So that to reach the yew alley one either has to come down it from the house or else to enter it by the moor-gate?"
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A narrow alley ran past the building, ending abruptly at the bank of the Thames in a moldering wooden dock, beneath which the inky waters of the river rose and fell, lapping the decaying piles and surging far beneath the dock to the remote fastnesses inhabited by the great fierce dock rats and their fiercer human antitypes.
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Next, he saw a narrow alley, between ramshackle frame buildings.
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"Here it is," he said, in a tone of satisfaction, as they came to a narrow alley. "And then we must go to the left again, and then straight for'ard for a bit, up Shoe Lane: and then we shall be at the entry next to the o'erhanging window, where there's the nick in the road for the water to run.
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"Her father shall pay me for it doubly: with his purse and with his life." With that thought in his heart, Richard Turlington wound his way through the streets by the river-side, and stopped at a blind alley called Green Anchor Lane, infamous to this day as the chosen resort of the most abandoned wretches whom London can produce.
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"The alley back of Campbell's grocery," Billy elucidated.
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He put down his pail, took the white alley, and bent over the toe with absorbing interest while the bandage was being unwound.
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That I could escape the village I was not at all sure; but of one thing I was positive; that it would do neither Ajor nor myself any service to remain where I was and be captured; so with Nobs, bloody but happy, following at heel, I turned down the first alley and slunk away in the direction of the northern end of the village.
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