open roadn.adj.
/ˌəʊp(ə)n ˈrəʊd/, U.S. /ˈoʊp(ə)n ˈroʊd/ (in sense B.)Brit. /ˈəʊp(ə)n ˌrəʊd/, U.S. /ˈoʊp(ə)n ˈroʊd/ A. n.† 2. U.S. A road that is not private. Obsolete. rare.
1. A country road, or a main road outside the urban areas, where unimpeded driving is possible. In figurative contexts: freedom of movement.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > outside urban areas
open road1656
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun] > highway or public road
headwayOE
high streetOE
wayOE
port highwayOE
port-streetOE
port-wayOE
highway1257
high gate1324
thoroughfare1540
open road1656
rum pad1665
country road1669
toby lay1807
high toby spice1811
throughgang1856
1656 A. Cowley Muse ii, in Pindarique Odes 23 The Wheels of thy bold Coach pass quick and free; And all's an open Road to Thee.
1792 R. Bage Man as he Is III. lxxiv. 200 Your cunning people are so accustomed to bye-paths, they seldom chuse the open road, even when it leads to their direct end, by the shortest and easiest way.
1856 W. Whitman Leaves of Grass (new ed.) 223 Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road!
1886 T. Hardy Mayor of Casterbridge I. xxi. 275 When they had emerged upon the open road..they found enough to do in holding their bowed umbrellas to the wind.
1920 E. O'Neill Beyond Horizon iii. ii. 162 So I thought I'd try to end as I might have—if I'd had the courage to live my dream. Alone—in a ditch by the open road—watching the sun rise.
1968 L. Deighton Only when I Larf i. 16 I'm for the open road, the jet routes, Cannes, Nice, Monte; where the pickings are rich and the living is easy.
1976 Southern Evening Echo (Southampton) 2 Nov. 15/2 On the open road a new virtue is revealed, and the VX becomes an admirable companion for covering long distance in comfort.
2000 Times 2 Aug. ii. 14/4 The open road, so long a symbol of freedom and self-discovery in American fiction, is here rendered as denuded of promise.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > [noun]
road1580
roadway1600
tread-waya1636
via1673
open road1764
roadie1768
audax1937
1764 Pennsylvania Gaz. 25 Oct. 3/2 From Philadelphia to Mecklenburgh it is a good large open Road, much frequented.
1817 E. P. Fordham Jrnl. 31 July in Personal Narr. Trav. (1906) vi. 100 The trees on each side are notched at convenient distances, to distinguish the State road from private ones to Plantations, and this is then called an open road.
B. adj.
Usually in form open-road. Of or relating to an open road. Also in extended use.
ΚΠ
a1930 D. H. Lawrence in A. Lawrence & G. S. Gelder Young Lorenzo (1931) 243 Some of these sonnets are very fine: they stand apart in an age of ‘open road’ and Empire thumping verse.
1975 Country Life 16 Oct. 1007/1 Open-road motoring is inhibited by ever-lower speed limits.
1989 Cycle Oct. 73/1 All three chopper bikes offer better open-road deportment than sport bikes.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1656