Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Sidewalk |
SidewalkNoun1. Walk consisting of a paved area for pedestrians; usually beside a street or roadway. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "sidewalk" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1838. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Building & Civil Engineering | The portion of a road reserved exclusively for pedestrians. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A sidewalk (US), or pavement or footpath (UK/Australasia) is a path, usually constructed of concrete (particularly in the United States), asphalt, or brick (particularly in Europe), designed for pedestrian traffic and often running alongside a road. In the 19th century and early 20th century, sidewalks of wood were also common in some locations.
Sidewalks are more common in modern urban areas, where they may abut the road, than suburban areas, where they are sometimes separated from the road by a tree lawn (depending on available spaces and prior urban planning). Sidewalks are rare in rural areas.
Some paths are shared by pedestrians and cyclists. This can be expressed by saying that bicycle travel is allowed on the sidewalk, or that pedestrians use the bicycle path, since there is no sidewalk. In towns, if there is only one path, bicycles usually have to use the road. In the areas in which car traffic is intense, a growing trend is to create dedicated bicycle paths for cyclists, either as a lane on a sidewalk, a lane on the road itself, or another separate path, in order to let them have a safer, distinguished space. This practice originated in northern Europe.
In some countries, sidewalks are often the responsibility of the adjacent property owners.
Sidewalks vary in width, depending on traffic in the area, though are generally wider than 4 feet (1.3 meters). Often that is too narrow however, particularly when obstructions are placed on the sidewalk (street lights, traffic signal poles, news stands, road signs, fire hydrants etc.), or if bicycles use the facility.
Most western countries have a policy about the removal of so-called "architectural barriers" in order to reduce the difficulties for disabled people, and these policies usually reserve a great attention to sidewalks. The Americans with Disabilities Act, like other rules in other countries, requires sidewalks to have curb cuts at intersections so that sidewalks can be used by persons in wheelchairs.
External links
The internet site sidewalk.com is a listing of local events and information in numerous cities: sidewalk.comSource: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Sidewalk."
Synonym: SidewalkSynonym: pavement (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Method | Roadway, pathway, stairway; express; thoroughfare; highway; turnpike, freeway, royal road, coach road; broad highway, King's highway, Queen's highway; beaten track, beaten path; horse road, bridle road, bridle track, bridle path; walk, trottoir, footpath, pavement, flags, sidewalk; crossroad, byroad, bypath, byway; cut; short cut; (mid-course); carrefour; private road, occupation road; highways and byways; railroad, railway, tram road, tramway; towpath; causeway; canal; (conduit); street; (abode); speedway. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Sidewalk |
| English words defined with "sidewalk": black ice ♦ curb, curbside ♦ deform ♦ kerb ♦ pitch ♦ skirl ♦ Trottoir, tumble ♦ whirl, whirl around. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "sidewalk": curb cut ♦ maintenance engineer ♦ pedestrian friendly design ♦ spange, superintendent, building ♦ wheelchair ramp. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I won't hurt him. The sidewalk will (Stuart Little 2; writing credit: E.B. White; Douglas Wick) Have you forgotten the sidewalk cafés and how we sipped champagne (Gay Purr-ee; writing credit: Chuck Jones; Dorothy Jones) Well, man meets girl, girl meets husband, husband meets man, man meets sidewalk. (Go Into Your Dance; writing credit: Earl Baldwin; Bradford Ropes) Thank God for the rain to wash the trash off the sidewalk. (Taxi Driver; writing credit: Paul Schrader) I think I would rather see brains on the sidewalk, than those swim suit shows (The Dark; writing credit: Stanford Whitmore) | |
Lyrics | Now on the sidewalk, huh, huh, whoo sunny morning, un huh (Mack The Knife; performing artist: Bobby Darin) All these cars and upon the sidewalk (Ants Marching; performing artist: Dave Matthews Band) And in the cracks along the sidewalk nothing grows no more (Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny); performing artist: Elton John) Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty ("Downtown"; performing artist: Petula Clark) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Sidewalk Cowboy (1968) Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) Sidewalk Stories (1989) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Woman cooking food at sidewalk in Xian. Credit: CDC. |  | Sidewalk food vending stand with customers. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 2000. Credit: CDC. |
 | Sidewalk access to Quarry Cove tidepools. Credit: BLM. |  | Pedestrians on sidewalk along city street in Georgia. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | African American man standing on sidewalk in front of church. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Two men standing on sidewalk, with man at right having popped his buttons and wearing a ribbon marked "12 lbs.". Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Sen. Claude A. Swanson and Ray Baker standing on sidewalk and talking. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Their sidewalk sink. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | A Characteristic sidewalk newstand [sic], New York City. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Farmers sitting against wall and squatting on sidewalk, Spur, Texas. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Street sidewalk" by J. Rodriguez Commentary: "I took this shot just for the heck of it...its ver useful if you know about textures." | "Sidewalk Grate" by Justin Tormey Commentary: "Sidewalk grate. Good for a texture / pattern." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption |
 | Water splashing from a bucket onto the sidewalk. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Jim, corral that old bastard on the sidewalk. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | From the moment he buys the car he parks it anywhere, even on the sidewalk blocking the way of pedestrians. (references) | |
For this reason, a large multinational franchise chain is treated in the same way that a small tavern operator, who is trying to squeeze more table space from the sidewalk or swindle unsuspecting clients is treated. (references) | ||
He may also consider the type of car and settle for a four-wheel drive because this type of car is more suitable for climbing onto the sidewalk and scrambling over obstacles protecting pedestrian areas or playgrounds. (references) | ||
Children | Iceland | Moreover, the regulations also specify that, to the extent possible, the sidewalk outside the main entrance of a public accommodation or government building should be heated so that it remains clear of ice and snow throughout the winter. (references) |
Laos | The law does not mandate accessibility to buildings or government services for persons with disabilities, but the Labor and Social Welfare Ministry has established some regulations regarding building access and some sidewalk ramps in Vientiane. (references) | |
Estonia | There is no public access law, but some effort has been made to accommodate persons with disabilities; for example, ramps were installed at curbs on new sidewalk construction, and public transportation firms have acquired some vehicles that are accessible, as have some taxi companies. (references) | |
Human Rights | Peru | According to reports, two men were passing out Sendero Luminoso propaganda while a taxi waited; a woman left the bomb as a package on the sidewalk, and the three departed in the taxi. (references) |
Political Economy | Vietnam | However, on at least four occasions, police in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) prevented demonstrators from camping out on a sidewalk to stage a sit-in, but on one occasion, they allowed a group of protesters to march down city streets for a 2-day period. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Sidewalk" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 96.10% of the time. "Sidewalk" is used about 77 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 96.1% | 74 | 38,813 |
| Noun (proper) | 3.9% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 77 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "sidewalk": arcaded sidewalk ♦ moving sidewalk ♦ sidewalk artist ♦ sidewalk superintendent. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "sidewalk"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | trottoir (pavement). (various references) | |
Albanian | trotuar (pavement). (various references) | |
Arabic | رصيف المشاة, رصيف (dock, flagging, footpath, kerb, levee, path, recife, ridge, stance). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | тротоар (causeway, pavement), плочник (flagging, pavement, schist). (various references) | |
Catalan | voravia (pavement). (various references) | |
Chinese | 边路, 走道 (footpath, path, pavement, walk), 人行道 , 便道 (makeshift road, pavement, shortcut). (various references) | |
Czech | chodník (footway, Lane, pavement). (various references) | |
Danish | fortov (pavement). (various references) | |
Dutch | voetpad (pavement), trottoir (pavement), stoep (pavement, platform, railway platform). (various references) | |
Esperanto | trotuaro (pavement). (various references) | |
Faeroese | gongubreyt (pavement). (various references) | |
Farsi | پیاده رو (Pavement, Peripatetic, Walk). (various references) | |
Finnish | katukäytävä (pavement), jalkakäytävä (footway, pavement). (various references) | |
French | trottoir (side walk). (various references) | |
Frisian | stoepe (pavement), gongpaad (pavement). (various references) | |
German | Gehweg (footpath, pavement, promenade), Bürgersteig (footpath, pavement, siding). (various references) | |
Greek | πεζοδρόμιο (pavement, paving). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מפסעה (groin, pavement), מדרכה (curb, footway, kerb, pavement). (various references) | |
Hungarian | járda (banquette, footway, path, pathway, pavement, side-walk). (various references) | |
Indonesian | trotoar, gili-gili (bund, earthen dike). (various references) | |
Italian | marciapiede (pavement, platform). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 人道 (humanity), 歩道 (footpath, walkway). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ほどう (custody, footpath, guidance, paved street, pavement, protective custody, walkway), じんどう (humanity). (various references) | |
Korean | 보도 (walkway). (various references) | |
Manx | cassan (passage, path, pavement, thoroughfare, trajectory). (various references) | |
Papiamen | stupi (pavement), tròtuar (pavement), asera (pavement), alsera (pavement). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | idewalksay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | passeio (causeway, causey, crosswalk, footpath, footway, jaunt, mall, out, outing, pavement, perambulation, ramble, ride, roam, run, saunter, scramble, stroll, tour, trip, tripping, walk, walkway, wandering), calçada (banquette, bund, causeway, pavement, road, roadway). (various references) | |
Romansch | trottuar. (various references) | |
Russian | тротуар (footpath, pavement). (various references) | |
Scottish | cabhsair (causeway, pavement). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | trotoar (pavement), pločnik (pavement). (various references) | |
Sicilian | ghiancata. (various references) | |
Spanish | acera (banquette, footpath, pathway, pavement), vereda (Lane, pathway, pavement, ride), banqueta (banquette). (various references) | |
Swedish | trottoar (footway, pavement), gångbana (footpath, pavement). (various references) | |
Thai | ทางเท้า. (various references) | |
Turkish | kaldırım (footpath, footway, pavement, paving, side walk, walkway). (various references) | |
Turkmen | trotuar (r). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | тротуар (banquette, causeway, footpath, footway, parapet, pavement, pediment, walk), бокова доріжка. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | vỉa hè (foot-way), lề đường (roadside, wayside). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | crepidine, crepidinem, crepidinis, crepido. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "sidewalk": sidewalks. (additional references) | |
| |
"Sidewalk" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: sidewolk, Sigewulf. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "sidewalk" (pronounced sī"dwô'k) |
| 4 | -d w ô' k | boardwalk. |
| 3 | -w ô' k | jaywalk, sleepwalk. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-e-i-k-l-s-w" | |
-1 letter: sawlike. | |
-2 letters: aisled, alkies, alsike, deasil, ideals, ladies, sailed, silked, slaked, wadies, wailed, walies, walked, wealds, wields. | |
-3 letters: aides, ailed, aisle, alike, aside, asked, askew, dales, dawks, deals, deils, delis, dials, dikes, ideal, ideas, idles, isled, kadis, kails, kales, lades, laked, lakes, lased, lawed, leads, leaks, lewis, liked, likes, lweis, sawed, sidle, skald. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-e-i-k-l-s-w" | |
+1 letter: sidewalks. | |
+2 letters: shadowlike. | |
+3 letters: candlewicks. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Sounds 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
