road

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. An open, generally public way for the passage of vehicles, people, and animals.
2. n. The surface of a road; a roadbed.
3. n. A course or path: the road to riches.
4. n. A railroad.
5. n. Nautical A roadstead. Often used in the plural.
6. idiom. down the road In the future; at a later date.
7. idiom. on the road On tour, as a theatrical company.
8. idiom. on the road Traveling, especially as a salesperson.
9. idiom. on the road Wandering, as a vagabond.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A ride; journey; expedition.
2. n. A hostile expedition; an incursion; an inroad; a raid. See raid.
3. n. A public way for passage or travel; a strip of ground appropriated for travel, forming a line of communication between different places; a highway; hence, any similar passage for travel, public or private; by extension, a railroad or railway. See street.
4. n. Hence Any means or way of approach or access; a course; a path.
5. n. A place near the shore where vessels may anchor, differing from a harbor in not being sheltered. Also called roadstead.
6. n. The regulations embodied in a code of rules for the safe handling of vessels meeting or passing each other.
7. n. Synonyms Street, Passage, etc. (see way), lane, route, course, thoroughfare.
8. To furnish with a road or with roads.
9. To follow the trail of by scent; track or pursue on foot, as game: said of dogs.
10. To jostle (one) off the road by riding against him.
11. n. The tour or route of a theatrical company. See on the road.
12. n. A road over which logs are dragged, having heavy transverse skids, partially sunk in the ground, usually at intervals of about five feet.

Wiktionary

1. n. A way used for travelling between places, usually surfaced with asphalt or concrete. Modern roads, both rural and urban, are designed to accommodate many vehicles travelling in both directions. [from 16th c.]
2. n. A path chosen in life or career. [from 17th c.]
3. n. a partly sheltered area of water near a shore in which vessels may ride at anchor. [from 14th c.]
4. n. An underground tunnel in a mine. [from 18th c.]
5. n. a railway; (British) a single railway track. [from 19th c.]

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A journey, or stage of a journey.
2. n. An inroad; an invasion; a raid.
3. n. A place where one may ride; an open way or public passage for vehicles, persons, and animals; a track for travel, forming a means of communication between one city, town, or place, and another.
4. n. A place where ships may ride at anchor at some distance from the shore; a roadstead; -- often in the plural.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a way or means to achieve something
2. n. an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation