sidewalk

S1I1D2E1W4A1L1K5
UK/ˈsaɪdwɔːk/US/ˈsaɪdwɔk/cot caught merger/ˈsaɪdwɑk/

noun

A paved footpath located at the side of a road, for the use of pedestrians.

“Stay on the sidewalk.”

Similar
trottoirpavementfootpathbanquette
OriginEnglish walk ← Middle English side ← Old English sīde →
Less commonScrabble 16
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounsidewalk (plural sidewalks)

plural sidewalks · alternative side-walk

  1. CanadaPhilippinesUSA paved footpath located at the side of a road, for the use of pedestrians.

    Stay on the sidewalk.

    2 more examples

    Morning commuters in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas discovered slick sidewalks and icy roadways Monday.

    2024 January 21, Elizabeth Wolfe, Robert Shackelford and Mary Gilbert, “Icy conditions make for hazardous travel across central US, but warmer air is on the horizon”, in CNN

    Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle said body camera video and footage from a nearby business appear to show the suspect charge at officer Travis Brown near a sidewalk during the Friday night protests.

    2024 August 13, Emma Tucker and Cindy Von Quednow, “Ferguson police release videos showing officer pushed to sidewalk during protests marking decade since Michael Brown killing”, in CNN

    Synonyms: trottoir, pavement, footpath, banquette

  2. USbroadlyAny paved footpath, even if not located at the side of a road.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA paved footpath located at the side of a road, for the use of pedestrians.

Similar
trottoirpavementfootpathbanquette
Narrower
moving sidewalkslidewalk

More synonyms by meaning

nounwalk consisting of a paved area for pedestrians; usually beside a street or roadway

Similar
pavement
Broader
walkwalkwaypaseo
Also see
footpathfootwaypavementtrottoirwalk

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*seh₁-
  2. Proto-Germanic*sīdaz
  3. Proto-Germanic*sīdǭ
  4. Old Englishsīde
  5. Middle Englishside
  6. Englishside
  7. Englishwalk
  8. Englishsidewalk

From side + walk.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans sypaadjie
  • sypaadjiepaved footpath
Arabic رَصِيف, طَوَار
  • رَصِيف (raṣīf)paved footpath
  • طَوَار (ṭawār)paved footpath
  • طُوَار (ṭuwār)paved footpath
Basque espaloi
  • espaloipaved footpath
Bengali ফুটপাথ
  • ফুটপাথ (phuṭpath)paved footpath
Bulgarian тротоа́р, пло́чник
  • тротоа́р (trotoár)paved footpath
  • пло́чник (plóčnik)paved footpath
Catalan vorera, voravia
  • vorerapaved footpath
  • voraviapaved footpath
Chinese Cantonese 行人徑 /行人径, 行人路
  • 行人徑 /行人径 (hang⁴ jan⁴ ging³)paved footpath
  • 行人路 (hang⁴ jan⁴ lou⁶)paved footpath
Chinese Mandarin 人行道, 步道
  • 人行道 (rénxíngdào)paved footpath
  • 步道 (bùdào)paved footpath
Czech chodník
  • chodníkpaved footpath
Danish fortov
  • fortovpaved footpath
Dutch stoep, trottoir
  • stoeppaved footpath
  • trottoirpaved footpath
  • voetpadpaved footpath
Esperanto trotuaro
  • trotuaropaved footpath
Estonian sillutis
  • sillutispaved footpath
Finnish jalkakäytävä, katukäytävä
  • jalkakäytäväpaved footpath
  • katukäytäväpaved footpath
French trottoir
  • trottoirpaved footpath
German Bürgersteig, Gehweg
  • Bürgersteigpaved footpath
  • Gehwegpaved footpath
  • Gehsteigpaved footpath
  • Trottoirpaved footpath
  • Fußgängerwegpaved footpath
  • Gangsteigpaved footpath
Greek πεζοδρόμιο
  • πεζοδρόμιο (pezodrómio)paved footpath
Hebrew מִדְרָכָה
  • מִדְרָכָה (midrakhá)paved footpath
Hindi फ़ुटपाथ, फुटपाथ
  • फ़ुटपाथ (fuṭpāth)paved footpath
  • फुटपाथ (phuṭpāth)paved footpath
  • पटरी (paṭrī)paved footpath
Hungarian járda, gyalogjáró
  • járdapaved footpath
  • gyalogjárópaved footpath
Icelandic gangstétt, fortóv
  • gangstéttpaved footpath
  • fortóvpaved footpath
Indonesian trotoar
  • trotoarpaved footpath
Irish cosán
  • cosánpaved footpath
Italian marciapiede
  • marciapiedepaved footpath
Japanese 歩道, 舗道
  • 歩道 (hodō)paved footpath
  • 舗道 (hodō)paved footpath
  • 舗装 (hosō)paved footpath
  • 人道 (jindō)paved footpath
Korean 보도, 인도
  • 보도 (bodo)paved footpath
  • 인도 (indo)paved footpath
Latvian trotuārs, ietve
  • trotuārspaved footpath
  • ietvepaved footpath
Lithuanian danga
  • dangapaved footpath
Malay laluan jalan kaki, trotoar
  • laluan jalan kakipaved footpath
  • trotoarpaved footpath
Norwegian Bokmål fortau
  • fortaupaved footpath
Polish chodnik
  • chodnikpaved footpath
Portuguese calçada, passeio
  • calçadapaved footpath
  • passeiopaved footpath
Romanian trotuar, caldarâm
  • trotuarpaved footpath
  • caldarâmpaved footpath
  • pavajpaved footpath
Russian тротуа́р, мостова́я
  • тротуа́р (trotuár)paved footpath
  • мостова́я (mostovája)paved footpath
Scottish Gaelic cabhsair
  • cabhsairpaved footpath
Slovak chodník
  • chodníkpaved footpath
Spanish acera, andén
  • acerapaved footpath
  • andénpaved footpath
  • banquetapaved footpath
  • escarpapaved footpath
  • veredapaved footpath
  • hacerapaved footpath
Swedish trottoar
  • trottoarpaved footpath
Tagalog bangketa
  • bangketapaved footpath
Thai ทางเท้า, บาทวิถี
  • ทางเท้า (taang-táao)paved footpath
  • บาทวิถี (bàat-wí-tǐi)paved footpath
  • ฟุตบาท (fút-bàat)paved footpath
Turkish kaldırım
  • kaldırımpaved footpath
Ukrainian хідни́к, тротуа́р
  • хідни́к (xidnýk)paved footpath
  • тротуа́р (trotuár)paved footpath
Urdu فَرْش, فُوٹ پاتھ
  • فَرْش (farś)paved footpath
  • فُوٹ پاتھ (fūṭ pāth)paved footpath
  • فُٹ پاتھ (fuṭ pāth)paved footpath
Vietnamese vỉa hè
  • vỉa hèpaved footpath
Welsh palmant, seri
  • palmantpaved footpath
  • seripaved footpath
Yiddish טראָטואַר
  • טראָטואַר (trotuar)paved footpath
Cite this entry
APA

sidewalk. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sidewalk

MLA

“sidewalk.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sidewalk. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sidewalk,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sidewalk.

Source: sidewalk on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.