alley
/ˈæl.i/noun
alley is spelled A-L-L-E-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “alley vs ally” about 880 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, alley means “A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots of buildings” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of alley is alleys.
How many letters and syllables are in alley?
| Letters | 5: A-L-L-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.4 times per million words; the 8,669th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is alley?
Alley appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce alley?
- /ˈæl.i/
Alley has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-alley.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with alley
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: ally.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of alley
- alleys plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does alley mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots of buildings.
The parking lot to my friend's apartment building is in the alley.
- 2
The area between the outfielders.
He hit one deep into the alley.
- 3
An establishment where bowling is played.
- 4
An elongated wooden strip of floor along which a bowling ball is rolled.
- 5
The extra area between the sidelines or tramlines on a tennis court that is used for doubles matches.
- 6
A walk or passage in a garden or park, bordered by rows of trees or bushes.
- 7
A passageway between rows of pews in a church.
- 8
Any passage having the entrance represented as wider than the exit, so as to give the appearance of length.
- 9
A marble (small ball used in games).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Alley in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense narrow street:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ruelle, allée, venelle |
| German | Gasse |
| Portuguese | beco, ruela, travessa, viela |
| Spanish | callejón, callejuela, calleja, esquinita, callizo, callejo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does alley come from?
From Middle English aleye, from Anglo-Norman aleie, feminine of alé, past participle of aler (“to go”) (French aller). Doublet of allée.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).