southern
adjective
south·ern
| \ ˈsə-t͟hərn
\
\
Definition of southern
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
capitalized
: of, relating to, or characteristic of a region conventionally designated South
2a
: lying toward the south
b
: coming from the south
a southern wind
Southern
nounDefinition of Southern (Entry 2 of 2)
: the dialect of English spoken in most of the Chesapeake Bay area, the coastal plain and the greater part of the upland plateau in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, and the Gulf states at least as far west as the valley of the Brazos in Texas and sometimes taken to include the south Midland area
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Other Words from southern
Adjective
southernness
\ ˈsə-t͟hərn-nəs
\
noun,
often capitalized
\
noun,
often capitalized
Examples of southern in a Sentence
Adjective
the southern part of the state the southern shore of the lakeRecent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Salva Lacruz is the operations director with the Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center in Tapachula, Chiapas, a gateway into Mexico on its southern border with Guatemala. — Rafael Carranza, azcentral, "Migrant shelters in Mexico clash with National Guard over immigration enforcement," 30 Aug. 2019 The southern Great Barrier Reef was not hit very hard by the bleaching events. — Mark Fischetti, Scientific American, "Don’t Believe the Hype: The Pumice Raft Won’t Save the Great Barrier Reef," 30 Aug. 2019 The bodies of at least three migrants — two in the Rio Grande River — were discovered in Texas along the southern border with Mexico, officials said Tuesday. — Fox News, "Border Patrol agents find at least 3 bodies along southern border, officials say," 29 Aug. 2019 Much of the construction on the southern border has been to replace existing border infrastructure. — NBC News, "Trump denies report he offered pardons to aides who break law to fast-track border wall," 28 Aug. 2019 That pressure has only intensified as Centennial, on Englewood’s southern border, put in place its own urban camping ban this month. — John Aguilar, The Denver Post, "Efforts to combat homelessness in Denver’s suburbs intensify as problems persist," 27 Aug. 2019 The Trump administration has blamed that arrangement for the surging number of families — largely Central Americans who are seeking asylum — crossing the southern border of the United States each month. — Alexei Koseff, SFChronicle.com, "California to sue over Trump plan to hold immigrant children indefinitely," 26 Aug. 2019 Migrant family residential centers expanded under the Obama administration to hold rapidly growing numbers of Central American families crossing the U.S. southern border with Mexico to seek asylum. — oregonlive.com, "The ICE chief called family detention ‘summer camp. Here’s what it looks like inside," 25 Aug. 2019 Close to 475,000 of you were caught crossing our southern border with family in the last 10 months, up 469 percent from the previous year, and triple the record for any previous year, our numbers show. — Yvonne Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, "The ugly truth behind Trump’s ‘beautiful puzzle’," 24 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'southern.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for southern
southern
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of southern
: located in or toward the south
: of or relating to the south
: of or relating to the people born, raised, or living in the southeastern U.S.
See the full definition for southern in the English Language Learners Dictionary
southern
adjective
south·ern
| \ ˈsə-t͟hərn
\
\
Kids Definition of southern
1
often capitalized
: of, relating to, or like that of the South
a southern climate
2
: lying toward or coming from the south
southern Asia
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