An alley is a narrow street or pathway that runs between or behind buildings. Most alleys are too small for regular traffic, so they're often used for deliveries, garbage collection, or as shortcuts on foot. In older cities, alleys might be paved with cobblestones or brick. Some alleys feel hidden and mysterious, tucked away from the busy main streets.

The word appears in many familiar phrases. A blind alley is a dead end, both literally (a pathway with no exit) and figuratively (an idea that leads nowhere). When something is right up your alley, it matches your interests or skills perfectly, like how a science fair project about volcanoes would be right up the alley of a kid who loves geology.

You might also encounter the phrase bowling alley, which is an indoor facility with long, polished lanes where people roll heavy balls to knock down pins. These aren't actually alleys in the outdoor sense, but they got the name because the lanes are long, narrow passages, similar in shape to the passageways between buildings.