Alternative forms

• (freeway that is part of the Interstate Highway System): I, IH (Texas), IR (Ohio; rare), Int. (obsolete), ISR (obsolete)

Etymology

From inter- +‎ stateCategory:English terms prefixed with inter-#STATE, originally as an adjective only; the noun is by (ellipsis) from interstate highway. The noun also serves adjectivally as a (noun adjunct) in such collocations as interstate construction and interstate rest stops.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɪntɚˌsteɪt/, /ˈɪnɚˌsteɪt/, [ˈɪɾ̃ɚˌsteɪ̯t]Category:English 3-syllable words#INTERSTATECategory:English 3-syllable words#INTERSTATECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#INTERSTATE

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#INTERSTATE

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#INTERSTATE

Adjective

interstate (not comparable)Category:English lemmas#INTERSTATECategory:English adjectives#INTERSTATECategory:English uncomparable adjectives#INTERSTATECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#INTERSTATECategory:Pages with entries#INTERSTATECategory:Pages with 2 entries#INTERSTATE

1. (chiefly USCategory:American English#INTERSTATE and AustraliaCategory:Australian English#INTERSTATE) Of, or relating to two or more states.

   Coordinate terms: stateCategory:English links with manual fragments#INTERSTATE ((attributively)), intrastate, intraprovincial; interprovincial; federal; federated; national, nationwide, countrywide; suprastate, supranational; international, transnational, intercountry, continental, transcontinental, intercontinental

   interstate commerceCategory:English terms with collocations#INTERSTATE

   interstate reciprocityCategory:English terms with collocations#INTERSTATE

   • 1983 April 27, “STATES CAN TRANSFER PRISONERS TO OTHER STATES, COURT HOLDS”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 18 September 2022:

     The difference between intrastate and interstate prison transfers, Justice Blackmun said, "is a matter of degree, not of kind," while confinement in a mental hospital is qualitatively different than an ordinary prison sentence.

     Category:English terms with quotations#INTERSTATE

   • 2024 May 16, Casey Gannon, “Pennsylvania man charged with threatening Biden in online video”, in CNN‎, archived from the original on 23 May 2025:

     Jordan Gee, 37, of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, was charged with three felony counts of threats against the president and one count of interstate threats, according to the Justice Department.

     Category:English terms with quotations#INTERSTATE

Adverb

interstate (not comparable)Category:English lemmas#INTERSTATECategory:English adverbs#INTERSTATECategory:English uncomparable adverbs#INTERSTATECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#INTERSTATECategory:Pages with entries#INTERSTATECategory:Pages with 2 entries#INTERSTATE

1. (chiefly USCategory:American English#INTERSTATE and AustraliaCategory:Australian English#INTERSTATE) Crossing states (usually provincial state, but also e.g. multinational sense).

   The truck driver drove interstate to unload.Category:English terms with usage examples#INTERSTATE

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

interstate Highway System

Wikipedia

interstate (plural interstates)Category:English lemmas#INTERSTATECategory:English nouns#INTERSTATECategory:English countable nouns#INTERSTATECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#INTERSTATECategory:Pages with entries#INTERSTATECategory:Pages with 2 entries#INTERSTATE

1. (USCategory:American English#INTERSTATE) A freeway that is part of the Interstate Highway System.
   • 1987 March 19, Bernard Weinraub, “HOUSE BACKS A SPEED LIMIT OF 65 FOR RURAL INTERSTATES”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 19 December 2024:

     The speed-limit increase would not apply to Delaware, where the interstates are all near populated areas.

     Category:English terms with quotations#INTERSTATE

   • 2013, Robin Wasserman, Seven Deadly Sins, volume 1: Lust; Envy, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 120:

     There was no reason to pull off the interstate and drive twenty miles down a bumpy local road, just to stay in a dilapidated no-tell motel.

     Category:English terms with quotations#INTERSTATE

Verb

interstāteCategory:Latin non-lemma forms#INTERSTATECategory:Latin verb forms#INTERSTATECategory:Latin entries with incorrect language header#INTERSTATECategory:Pages with entries#INTERSTATECategory:Pages with 2 entries#INTERSTATE

1. second-person plural present active imperative of interstō