2. An inroad; an invasion; a raid. [Obs.] Spenser.
3. 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. The most villainous house in all the London road. Shak.
Note: The word is generally applied to highways, and as a generic term it includes highway, street, and lane.
4. Etym: [Possibly akin to Icel. reithi the rigging of a ship, E. ready.]
Defn: A place where ships may ride at anchor at some distance from the shore; a roadstead; — often in the plural; as, Hampton Roads. Shak.
Now strike your saile, ye jolly mariners, For we be come unto a quiet
rode [road]. Spenser.
On, or Upon, the road, traveling or passing over a road; coming or
going; on the way.
My hat and wig will soon be here, They are upon the road. Cowper.
— Road agent, a highwayman, especially on the stage routes of the
unsettled western parts of the United States; — a humorous
euphemism. [Western U.S.]
The highway robber — road agent he is quaintly called. The century.
— Road book, a quidebook in respect to roads and distances.
— Road metal, the broken, stone used in macadamizing roads.
— Road roller, a heavy roller, or combinations of rollers, for
making earth, macadam, or concrete roads smooth and compact.
— often driven by steam.
— Road runner (Zoöl.), the chaparral cock.
— Road steamer, a locomotive engine adapted to running on common
roads.
— To go on the road, to engage in the business of a commercial
traveler. [Colloq.] — To take the road, to begin or engage in
traveling.
— To take to the road, to engage in robbery upon the highways.
Syn.
— Way; highway; street; lane; pathway; route; passage; course. See
Way.
ROADBED
Road"bed`, n.
Defn: In railroads, the bed or foundation on which the superstructure (ties, rails, etc.) rests; in common roads, the whole material laid in place and ready for travel.
ROADLESS
Road"less, a.