shunpike
noun
shun·pike ˈshən-ˌpīk 
: a side road used to avoid the toll on or the speed and traffic of a superhighway
shunpiker
ˈshən-ˌpī-kər
noun shunpiking
ˈshən-ˌpī-kiŋ
noun 
Did you know?
America's love affair with the automobile and the development of a national system of superhighways (along with the occasional desire to seek out paths less traveled) is a story belonging to the 20th century. So the word shunpike, too, must be a 20th-century phenomenon, right? Nope. Toll roads have existed for centuries (the word turnpike has meant "tollgate" since at least 1678), and were quite common in 19th-century America. Shunpike has been describing side roads since the middle of that century, almost half a century before the first Model T rolled out of the factory.
Word History
First Known Use
1804, in the meaning defined above
shunpike
noun
as in side street
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- side street
- secondary road
- high road
- side road
- bystreet
- street
- roadway
- road
- freeway
- highway
- pass
- row
- turnpike
- expressway
- drive
- avenue
- branch
- thoroughfare
- boulevard
- pike
- byway
- crossroad
- thruway
- backstreet
- drag
- corridor
- artery
- arterial
- trace
- way
- carriageway
- trail
- track
- switchback
- corniche
