(Noun). A common type of Interchange (US) between two major highways that allows traffic to change from one to the other without requiring any left turns or crossings and which, from above, resembles a 4-leafed clover.
The down side of a cloverleaf is the tight curvature of the On/Off Ramps (US) (Slip Roads (UK)) – as I found out to my horror after renting a Ford Mustang from La Guardia Airport and trying to join the Grand Central Parkway in heavy rain. Mustangs do not go round corners at the best of times. When the corner radius as as tight as it is on a cloverleaf, and the rain is positively biblical, Mustangs tend to pirouette like a ballerina on acid.
In the UK, we would spray weed killer on a cloverleaf.
Similar meaning: Interchange (US), Junction (UK).
« Back to BAD Word Search