Alley Definition: A right of way to serve a limited neighborhood for local convenience and not for general passage. Related Terms: Street, Boulevard In Irwin v. City of Manhattan Beach, Justice Peek of the Supreme Court of California distinguished between an alley and a street as follows:"It seems clear that alley does not include street, as the lesser does not include the greater. Further, an alley differs from a street in quality as well as quantity, in that it is a right of way to serve a limited neighborhood for local convenience and not for general passage or travel as in the case of streets." REFERENCES:Irwin v. City of Manhattan Beach, 415 P. 2d 769 (1966) Categories & Topics: Traffic Law Dictionary Find you are constantly looking up definitions? Try our search provider (works in most modern browsers) If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Legal Dictionary, or if you have legal term suggestion, we'd love to hear from you!