neighborhood

[ney-ber-hood]

noun

1. the area or region around or near some place or thing; vicinity.

   the kids of the neighborhood; located in the neighborhood of Jackson and Vine streets.

2. a district or locality, often with reference to its character or inhabitants.

   a fashionable neighborhood; to move to a nicer neighborhood.

   Synonyms: vicinity, locale, area, community

3. a number of persons living near one another or in a particular locality.

   The whole neighborhood was there.

4. neighborly feeling or conduct.

5. nearness; proximity.

   to sense the neighborhood of trouble.

6. Mathematics.,  an open set that contains a given point.

Word History and Origins

Origin of neighborhood¹

First recorded in 1400–50, neighborhood is from the late Middle English word neighborehode. See neighbor, -hood

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in the neighborhood of, approximately; nearly; about.

   She looks to be in the neighborhood of 70.

Example Sentences

First seen cycling his city’s streets day and night with a becalmed sense of ownership, Holland’s Roger is a die-hard Brooklynite none too happy with the smoothing over of his cherished neighborhoods by “obscene” money.

From Los Angeles Times

It was the type of house neighborhood kids called the “witch’s’ house” around Halloween.

From Los Angeles Times

At one point, the neighborhood pool, a gathering spots for residents, turned green.

From Los Angeles Times

California’s 34th District is overwhelmingly composed of renters and includes some of the most densely populated working-class neighborhoods in the country, as well as some of the most rapidly gentrifying sections of Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

In Los Angeles, for many people, the neighborhood park is their frontyard and backyard.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• area 
• block 
• district 
• parish 
• part 
• precinct 
• region 
• section 
• street 
• suburb 
• territory 
• zone