al·ley 1  ( ăl ē)
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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.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
al·ley 2  ( ăl ē)
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n. pl. al·leys Games A large playing marble, often used as the shooter.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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