pathnoun [ C ]
uk/pɑːθ/us/pæθ/path noun [ C ] (TRACK)
A2 a route or track between one place and another, or the direction in which something is moving:
a garden path
a concrete path
a well-trodden path
This is the path to the cliffs.
It will be several days before snowploughs clear a path (through) to the village.
They followed the path until they came to a gate.
A fierce fire is still raging through the forest, burning everything in its path (= as it moves forward).
The Weather Service issues warnings to people in the path of a hurricane (= in the area in which it is moving).
The charged particles move in spiral paths.
figurative His path through life was never easy.
More examples
- The path descended steeply into the valley.
- When you reach a fork in the road take the right-hand path.
- After a while the narrow track merges with a rocky path.
- I tried to push past her but she barred my path .
- Hundreds of houses in the typhoon's path suffered structural damage.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Roads: pedestrian routes
- alley
- boardwalk
- bridle path
- cart track
- causeway
- crazy paving
- esplanade
- ley line
- maze
- nature strip
- pathless
- pathway
- pavement
- paver
- sidewalk
- stepping stone
- stile
- the highways and byways idiom
- trackless
- trail
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path noun [ C ] (ACTIONS)
B2 a set of actions, especially ones that lead to a goal or result:
The path to success is fraught with difficulties.
More examples
- She saw her new job as a step further on the path to independence.
- I took the path of least resistance and agreed with the others.
- We must do more to smooth the country's path to democratic reform.
- The path to peace seems at last to be clear, although it may be a long and tortuous one.
- Kathy had followed a very different career path to her older sister.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Ways of achieving things
- a means to an end idiom
- actively
- another
- avenue
- basis
- channel
- fair
- jump
- mean
- medium
- mixed media
- modality
- modus operandi
- one way or another idiom
- one-handed
- resort
- shortcut
- vein
- whereby
- workings
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Idiom(s)
paths cross