What does thoroughfare mean?
Word: Thoroughfare
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Thoroughfare means a main road or street through a town or city, open to everyone and usually busy.
Synonyms: avenue
Word origin: From Middle English, where it meant a passage or way through a place.
How do you spell thoroughfare?
Syllables: thor - ough - fare
Tricky part: Students let the silent gh fall out (thoroufare), or end the word with fair, which is a different word.
Watch out for: thoroughfair, thoroufare, thoroughfere
Memory tip: A fare is the money you pay to travel, and a thoroughfare is where you travel, so the road ends with the money word, not with fair, the word for a mela.
Thoroughfare in a sentence
Example 1: Chandni Chowk is one of the oldest and busiest thoroughfares in Delhi.
Example 2: The council closed the main thoroughfare for the Republic Day parade.
Example 3: A new flyover now carries traffic over the crowded thoroughfare near the station.
Fun Fact
The Grand Trunk Road, one of Asia's oldest and longest thoroughfares, is often said to have linked the east and north-west of the Indian subcontinent for more than two thousand years.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) avenue : avenues
b) thoroughfare : thoroughfares
c) alley : allies
d) bypass : bypasses
Show answer
c) alley : allies. Alley keeps its y and adds s, alleys, because a vowel comes before the y; allies is the plural of ally.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
ofhogrhetrau
a) a public road that crowds and traffic pass along
b) a narrow lane between two rows of buildings
c) a bridge that carries a road across a valley
d) a large open square in the middle of a town
Show answer
a) a public road that crowds and traffic pass along. Sorted out, the letters spell thoroughfare, a public road; the other options describe an alley, a viaduct and a town square.
Spellacadabra
Which word takes the same letter in both blanks?
a) c_ll_ge
b) m_n_ment
c) p_rf_rm
d) th_r_ughfare
Show answer
d) th_r_ughfare. Thoroughfare needs o in both blanks; monument takes o and u, perform e and o, and college o and e.
Spell Probe
One word in the sentence is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word:
Every evening, the main thoroughfare of the old town fills with cyclists, fruit sellers and families out for a strole, and the noise does not die down until late.
a) people who ride bicycles
b) the time between afternoon and night
c) a slow, relaxed walk for pleasure
d) people who sell things in the street
Show answer
c) a slow, relaxed walk for pleasure. Stroll needs ll at the end; with one l and an e it turns into strole, which is not a word.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A sign saying 'No thoroughfare' at the end of a lane means ___.
a) you must drive slowly here
b) you are entering a school zone
c) you cannot go through this way
d) you may park here for free
Show answer
c) you cannot go through this way
2. Which of these could be described as a thoroughfare?
a) Mumbai's Marine Drive
b) a private garden path
c) a school's back staircase
d) a quiet dead-end lane
Show answer
a) Mumbai's Marine Drive
