1
a
: the bed on which the ties, rails, and ballast of a railroad rest
b
: the ballast or the upper surface of the ballast on which the ties rest
2
a
: the earth foundation of a road prepared for surfacing
b
: the part of the surface of a road traveled by vehicles
Examples of roadbed in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Compacted into 137 bundles, that steel had to be meticulously splayed out in order to successfully loop around the roadbed, just before the Yerba Buena Tunnel.
—
Katie Lauer, Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2025
The new roadbed will be much easier for cars using it.
—Ross Guidotti, CBS News, 9 Dec. 2025
Local officials said that worsening mountain conditions triggered landslides, which in turn caused the approach bridge and roadbed to collapse.
—Jenni Fink, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
The sensor fabric spans the full width of the roadbed, with measurement nodes recording resistance changes as vehicles pass over.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for roadbed
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Katie Lauer, Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2025
The new roadbed will be much easier for cars using it.
—Ross Guidotti, CBS News, 9 Dec. 2025
Local officials said that worsening mountain conditions triggered landslides, which in turn caused the approach bridge and roadbed to collapse.
—Jenni Fink, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2025
The sensor fabric spans the full width of the roadbed, with measurement nodes recording resistance changes as vehicles pass over.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for roadbed
Cite this Entry
“Roadbed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/roadbed. Accessed 31 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
roadbed
noun
road·bed
-ˌbed 
1
: the foundation of a road or railroad
2
: the part of the surface of a road that vehicles travel on
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