ENGLISH
REFERENCE

suburb

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈsəbɝb// UK //sˈʌbɜːb// sub·urb General-service

n. a residential area on the edge of a large city. People often live here to have more space while still being close to the city for work.

n. an outlying residential district of a city, typically characterized by lower population density and detached housing. Often used in the plural to refer to the collective residential fringe of an urban area.


SIMPLE

They moved to a quiet suburb to have a bigger garden.

CONTEXTUAL

Many people commute from the leafy suburbs into the city center for work every morning.

COMPLEX

The rapid expansion of the northern suburb has led to increased investment in public transport and local infrastructure to support the growing population.

Synonyms
Origin

From Old French suburbe, subburbe, from Latin suburbium (from sub- (“under-”) + urbs (“city”)). Displaced native Old English underburg (literally “underborough”).

Usage

Often used with the preposition 'in' ('live in the suburbs').

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