Home UK English terrace

Meaning of terrace in English:

terrace

Pronunciation /ˈtɛrəs/

Translate terrace into Spanish

noun

  • 1A level paved area next to a building; a patio.

    ‘breakfast is served on the terrace’
    • ‘The perforated sheets reappear both outside in the jambs of terraces cut into the building and inside as stylish balustrades.’
    • ‘Outdoor space is maximised on the tight site, with a large external courtyard off the ground floor waiting area and an outdoor terrace off community health on the first floor.’
    • ‘All blocks benefit from the shading effect of a huge glass roof that rests gently and lightly on the various buildings above a panoramic terrace.’
    • ‘The terraces ingeniously serve as walkways along the north facade and as private balconies on the sunny, south side.’
    • ‘A very likely source of intrusion in holiday properties is the door from the roof terrace or patio, so triple deadlocked doors should be fitted by a security company.’
    • ‘Each apartment is unique in style and elevation and the majority have patios, balconies or terraces.’
    • ‘On the second floor, a long terrace encircles the courtyard at the center of which stands a typical Spanish-inspired fountain.’
    • ‘Except for the lofts, each unit opens to a private terrace and the plant-filled courtyard at the rear.’
    • ‘A smaller (but steeper) secondary staircase leads up from the living area to a roof terrace.’
    • ‘The pavilion opens onto an extensive lawn, a paved terrace and the public areas of Casuarina Beach.’
    • ‘From the front door a stone walk extends through the house and out a pair of patio doors to the terrace.’
    • ‘In terraces paved with combined materials, the length of durability varies, so the surface must be checked regularly.’
    • ‘Floored with glass, the terrace is also a skylight shedding luminance into the building and down the stairwell.’
    • ‘Most of the apartments have patios, balconies or terraces, while parking for both residents and visitors is provided.’
    • ‘Gaps between the units form plazas and terraces overlooking the ocean.’
    • ‘Once an ancient townhouse, Ksantan's owners have converted the building's exceptional wooden architecture into a restaurant with garden patio, two terraces and bar.’
    • ‘The roof terrace serves as an outdoor studio and also as a place for entertaining.’
    • ‘In fact, many of the finest homes in America are graced with courtyards, terraces, garden paths and drives paved with brick.’
    • ‘The developers have also installed a barbecue area, deck, terraces, a putting green and walkways in the grounds.’
    • ‘A series of columns registers the space within the living room while others outside define a deck and an outdoor terrace.’

  • 2Each of a series of flat areas made on a slope, used for cultivation.

    ‘Carve a new series of terraces into the slope for easy planting.’
    • ‘On steep topography, the filter area should be a gradient terrace with a slope that will not allow erosion.’
    • ‘These terraces consist of a series of stone walls cascading down the side of steep slopes to keep small garden strips from being washed away.’
    • ‘Vetiver grass lines terraces in the gardens, to trap valuable topsoil in the beds.’
    • ‘Chalcatzingo had many Olmec features in addition to the rock carvings, including crypt burials, human sacrifice, and the use of cultivation terraces.’
    • ‘Here, the snow peaks of the Karakorums widen and thaw into a landslide of cultivation terraces.’
    • ‘The garden, which slopes away from the house, was parceled into a series of terraces to maximize the usable area.’
    • ‘The number and spacing of terraces depend on the soil type, slope, and cropping practices.’
    • ‘After Hardwar the valleys would occasionally widen into a great green opera of cultivation terraces, falling away like the tiers of a Greek amphitheatre into the convex bowl of the mountainside.’
    • ‘Soil accumulates behind the rigid leaves of the vetiver grass, and eventually forms stable terraces on which crops can be grown.’
    • ‘From the 10th century vines were at last being planted on slopes in terraces, with low walls to prevent soil erosion.’
    • ‘Most terraces are drained by grassed waterways designed to convey excess water to stream channels without erosion.’
    • ‘On sloping terrain, they can create level terraces to extend the cultivated area.’
    • ‘Stalk borer damage in corn commonly is confined to occasional plants in the first few rows near field margins, fence rows, grass terraces and waterways.’
    • ‘Archaeologists have assumed that Mill Creek agricultural fields were located on easily cultivated alluvial stream terraces.’
    • ‘The 12m x 12m plot tapered towards the rear and was made up of a series of terraces, subdivided into rhomboid shaped beds.’
    • ‘The growing areas are divided into terraces to prevent the crops from sliding downhill.’
    • ‘The plants grow wild in or on the banks of mountain streams and are cultivated in flooded mountain terraces.’
    • ‘After weeks in the heat and dust of the plains, we smelt for the first time the chlorophyll scent of ripe crops: terrace upon terrace of salad-green rice paddy.’
    • ‘The 12 million population paid their taxes in work: a billion man-hours a year to build temples, fortresses, agricultural terraces, and roads.’
    1. 2.1usually terracesBritish A flight of wide, shallow steps providing standing room for spectators in a stadium, especially a soccer ground.
      ‘When the trainer shouts, the group runs up the stadium's terraces, sending long shadows flickering over the steps.’
      • ‘The 11 senior players had been boycotting training since last week, reporting for work only to watch others train from the terraces of Garden Park stadium.’
      • ‘Seventies music was blaring out over the tannoy with the Best of Slade and Blondie while fans packed into the ground standing on the terraces behind the goals at both ends.’
      • ‘Such was the sparkless nature of the game that if either goalkeeper had gone off to rest in the Woodlands stadium terraces, he would never have been missed.’
      • ‘Last year, Fulham played Premiership football at a ground with terraces.’
      • ‘The most prominent recommendation was that standing terraces should go and that stadiums for clubs in the higher divisions should be all-seated.’
      • ‘At the stadium, I stand in what's called the VIP area, crammed together with other directors' guests at the top of a steep staircase that comes out halfway up the narrow terraces of the shallow arena.’
      • ‘To begin with, the stadium will have terraces at both ends of the ground, but that would change if City reached the Premiership.’
      • ‘They certainly won the battle on the terraces, but I'm afraid we didn't do them justice on the field, even though the Eagles had to rely on that last minute goal to snatch the win.’
      • ‘But, on a day when players on the pitch outnumbered spectators on the terraces, Kingsbury displayed a desire and commitment that was largely lacking in the visitors.’
      • ‘Still, as any old-timer on the terrace of either the ground or the gallery will tell you, in football as in art it's all been done before.’
      • ‘They crammed, sardine-like, into the terraces of the Grandstand and the Royal Enclosure, as the umbrellas of those brave enough to bear the course were pulled sideways in the gales.’
      • ‘Shunning the press box for the melee of the terraces, he follows Bobby Robson's team on their way to a World Cup semi-final at Italia 90.’
      • ‘There was a palpable air of defiance on the terraces, but many of the fans will have headed home consumed by the nauseating feeling that York might not even be involved when the FA Cup gets under way next season.’
      • ‘With a capacity of 4,000, one seated stand and bleak open terraces, Wigan's former home was not a place for the faint-hearted, either in the crowd or on the pitch.’
      • ‘He runs over to the terraces and is mobbed by supporters spilling over to greet him in a spontaneous explosion of relief.’
      • ‘The sound of singing and chanting from the terraces is very much a feature of English Soccer, but it hasn't really been much of a feature of Australian Soccer that I've been aware of.’
      • ‘Sky Blues fans were uncomfortably quiet on the terraces, clearly punishing their side's recent poor form with a wall of near-silence.’
      • ‘The days of fans being able to stand on terraces at top-flight football in this country are long gone and the call for standing areas is not about bringing them back.’
    2. 2.2Geology A natural horizontal shelflike formation, such as a raised beach.
      ‘Uplifted and incised fluvial terraces are preserved in footwall valleys, including those of the Ladopotamos and Vouraikos rivers.’
      • ‘The formation of coral terraces is interpreted as the product of approximately uniform long-term uplift superimposed on eustatic changes in sea level.’
      • ‘Nevertheless the climatic regime of the palaeosols was fundamentally frigid and these palaeosols formed on glacial terraces beside large permanent glaciers.’
      • ‘Of particular interest are the Quaternary fluvial and marine terraces that are preserved along the flanks of the Hajar Mountains.’
      • ‘The current morphology of the coastal terraces suggests that oblique-slip thrust movements have recently exceeded oblique-slip normal fault movements.’
      • ‘Evidence for the young age of uplift and faulting includes juvenile topography, faulted Quaternary marine terraces and a fractured falaj.’
      • ‘Each terrace represents a fan of younger pyroclastic deposits infilling valleys cut in older fans.’
      • ‘The youngest terrace surfaces in the Camardi area show no offset along faults, whereas older terraces are laterally and vertically displaced.’
      • ‘The coastal terraces of the Perachora peninsula are predominantly constructional.’

  • 3British A row of houses built in one block in a uniform style.

    ‘an attractive Regency terrace’
    • ‘Jim Loughman, aged 70, is in one of three houses in the terrace still owned by Limerick City Council.’
    road, thoroughfare, way
    1. 3.1An individual house built as part of a row.
      ‘modern furniture looks out of place in your Victorian terrace’
      • ‘The property takes up the bottom two floors of a Grade II-listed Regency terrace and comes with a share of the freehold.’
      • ‘The birth of our second child means that our modest Victorian terrace is now bulging at the seams.’
      • ‘The house she shared with her parents was quite small, a comfortable looking terrace on a long street.’
      • ‘My first house was a red brick terrace in Folkestone, backing onto the main line railway.’
      • ‘Yet this humble Victorian terrace is, in its own way, one of the most significant addresses in Europe.’
      • ‘The second of our rather regal offerings is a modern end terrace built by Harvest Homes about three years ago.’
      • ‘The need for conservation of older houses, terraces and cottages is also stressed, and the importance of maintaining trees and hedgerows is emphasized.’
      • ‘It has a villagey feel, he says, with its mix of pretty Victorian terraces and neat council homes with communal gardens; its primary school at one end and pub and a club at the other.’
      • ‘Three-bed duplexes, three-bed terraced houses and four-bed terraces will also be available from mid-January.’
      • ‘The view from our new bedroom terrace is wonderful; on a clear day, you can see the ocean!’
      • ‘Fancy turning your humble terrace into a palatial Georgian town house, or permanently hosting the Teddy Bears Picnic in your daughter's bedroom?’
      • ‘My first house was a three-bedroom, end of terrace in Kenton, Harrow.’

verb

[with object]

  • Make or form (sloping land) into a number of level flat areas resembling a series of steps.

    ‘the slope had to be terraced’
    • ‘The land is terraced and, in effect, so are the houses.’
    • ‘That area could be terraced into three or four tiers, which would allow for pleasant views and southern exposure.’
    • ‘There are numerous options for terracing a slope.’
    • ‘Generally, wherever it was possible to continue terracing the slopes for rice paddies, this was done.’
    • ‘Most homes in our area are terraced and sell for about €400,000.’
    • ‘Janet built low retaining walls of locally quarried limestone to terrace the slope.’
    • ‘In scattered areas on these slopes, they terraced and irrigated the land and produced abundant food for twelve million or more subjects.’
    • ‘The grant will allow the council to begin filling in the South Bay Pool, demolishing derelict buildings and terracing the slopes.’
    • ‘Except for a few hillsides, which are terraced with trails to gain more flat terrain for beginner skiers, the terrain matches that of the Pisa range.’
    • ‘Agriculture activities such as terracing earthen bunds and other vegetative measures allow water to percolate into the soil.’
    • ‘Canals draw water from far inside the mountains to guide them towards the fields which have been terraced to facilitate the work of the precious liquid.’
    • ‘A slightly sloping gravel path approaches the cabin and is terraced in two places.’
    • ‘The hotel was terraced on a steep hillside so all the rooms had a view.’
    • ‘On the other hand, as more people have acquired land titles, they have helped curb deforestation by planting trees and terracing their farms.’
    • ‘The rear garden is terraced with mature shrubs and trees and there is a large paddock at the side of the house.’
    • ‘If your front yard slopes downward, it is a good idea to terrace it and/or have a waist-high hedge blocking the initial drop off.’
    • ‘The mountain is terraced with waves of neatly tended, low, square stones, each one lovingly landscaped and decorated, bordered with bright flowers and green plants.’
    • ‘The little courtyard is terraced in Roman fashion.’
    • ‘To stop erosion as much as possible (we're on a hill), I terraced the place.’
    • ‘Then he came up with the idea to terrace the incline and place ascending pavers up the middle - and now those stone steps lead ever so easily to the front door.’

Origin

Early 16th century (denoting an open gallery, later a platform or balcony in a theatre): from Old French, literally ‘rubble, platform’, based on Latin terra ‘earth’.