alley

• IPA^(key): /ˈæ.li/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -æli

From Middle English aley, from Old French alee, feminine of alé, past participle of aler (“to go”) (French aller). Doublet of allée.

alley (plural alleys)

1. A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots of buildings.

   Synonyms: alleyway; see also Thesaurus:alley

   The parking lot to my friend's apartment building is in the alley.

2. (baseball) The area between the outfielders.

   Synonym: gap

   He hit one deep into the alley.

3. (bowling) An establishment where bowling is played.

   Synonym: bowling alley

4. (bowling) An elongated wooden strip of floor along which a bowling ball is rolled.

   Synonym: lane

5. (tennis) The extra area between the sidelines or tramlines on a tennis court that is used for doubles matches.
6. A walk or passage in a garden or park, bordered by rows of trees or bushes.
   • 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:

     I know each lane and every alley green.

7. A passageway between rows of pews in a church.
8. (perspective drawing) Any passage having the entrance represented as wider than the exit, so as to give the appearance of length.
9. The space between two rows of compositors' stands in a printing office.
10. (informal, rare) A group of clowns; the collective noun for clowns.
    • 2017, Charles William Jefford, Academia Nuts, page 78:

      […] alley of clowns had sprung like a fungus growth from the dung heap of the First World War.

    • 2021, T. K. Wrathbone, All Clowns Must Die!:

      “ […] Something must've happened to him when he was little.”
      “Which would give him a reason to hate them,” Oliver replied and was pushed aside by an alley of clowns. “Hey!”
      “Sorry, kid. Didn't see you there,” one clown called over.

Diminutive of alabaster, from which they were once made.

alley (plural alleys)

1. A marble (small ball used in games).

• blood alley

• elayl, yella