superhighway

S1U1P3E1R1H4I1G2H4W4A1Y4

noun

An expressway, especially one designed for high speeds.

Less commonScrabble 27

Meanings

nounsuperhighway (plural superhighways)

plural superhighways

  1. USAn expressway, especially one designed for high speeds.
  2. broadlyA major route that carries most of the traffic going in a given direction by a specified mode of transportation.

    One of them was exploring the possibility of a bicycle superhighway along the River Dodder.

    2018, Mikael Colville-Andersen, Copenhagenize: The Definitive Guide to Global Bicycle Urbanism, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    We cannot and should not be rebuilding old "two lane" sections of the air transport system with segments having "eight lane superhighway" capacity without knowing the full economic, safety, and environmental impacts of the entire air traffic superhighway.

    1996, United States Congress House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Subcommittee on Aviation, Computer outages at the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Control Center in Aurora, Illinois

    By 1400, however, Western Europeans had developed their own versions of oceangoing ships, and these transformed the much narrower Atlantic Ocean from a barrier into a superhighway.

    2015, Ian Morris, Stephen Macedo, Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels: How Human Values Evolve, →ISBN
  3. figurativelyThe primary mechanism used in the movement of electronic data or information; information superhighway.

    In the discussion about the pros and cons of the electronic superhighway, people often refer to the Internet.

    1996, V. J. J. M. Bekkers, Bert-Jaap Koops, Sjaak Nouwt, Emerging Electronic Highways:New Challenges for Politics and Law, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    How should we reinterpret the universal service obligation for the superhighway? It is clear that price is already a barrier to access to the basic telephone service.

    1996, Richard Collins, Converging Media? Converging Regulation?, →ISBN, page 29

    As both Bell Atlantic and TCI have made clear, their superhighway will give them full control over the programming from its point of origin through its delivery to the home.

    2000, Charles Addo, Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions: A Case Study, page 113

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna broad highway designed for high-speed traffic

nounan extensive electronic network (such as the internet) used for the rapid transfer of sound and video and graphics in digital form

Broader
networkelectronic network

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  3. Proto-Italic*super
  4. Latinsuper
  5. Latinsuper-
  6. Englishsuper-
  7. Englishhighway
  8. Englishsuperhighway

From super- + highway.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan super-autopista
  • super-autopistaUS An expressway especially one designed for high speeds
German Autobahn
  • AutobahnUS An expressway especially one designed for high speeds
Polish superautostrada
  • superautostradaUS An expressway especially one designed for high speeds
Portuguese super-autopista
  • super-autopistaUS An expressway especially one designed for high speeds
Spanish super-autopista
  • super-autopistaUS An expressway especially one designed for high speeds
Cite this entry
APA

superhighway. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superhighway

MLA

“superhighway.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superhighway. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “superhighway,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superhighway.

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