Bay State
1
6.4
- proper noun
- /beɪ steɪt/
- US
:
Estado de la Bahía
- The Bay State is famous for its rich history and beautiful coastline.
Examples
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It has only started to rain in Massachusetts, but already colleges in the Bay State are announcing that they are shutting their doors Monday.
Blog text (31) -
Governor Deval Patrick is urging employers to let workers stay home tomorrow and has announced that all state buildings will be closed as the Bay State braces for the impact of Hurricane Sandy.
Blog text (31) -
Nor is he a merely reliable defender of Bay State interests.
Blog text (6) -
The events left millions of Bay State residents without power for days, and this time state officials aren't taking any chances.
Blog text (31) -
Bay State students are testing beasts.
Blog text (6) -
"I don't know if I trust him yet," Appnel said of the former Bay State governor.
Blog text (6) -
The "color-blind" policy in the Bay State gradually gave way to an implicit color-based social order.
Academic text (2002) -
During a press conference on Monday night, Patrick said he wouldn't "dare say we are out of the woods," but that the Bay State weather is "trending in the right direction."
Blog text (31) -
After the Civil War, Republican assemblymen in the Bay State took a step further by enacting and reinforcing laws against racial discrimination in public accommodations.
Academic text (2002) -
That's not to say Bay State students always outperform their peers on every administration of the exam, said Chad d'Entremont, executive director of the Rennie Center, which provides independent, nonpartisan research to inform public education reform in Massachusetts.
Blog text (6)
Synonyms
510
3.0
A state in the northeast of the United States with Boston as its capital
99
1.4
A state in the northeastern United States with capital Boston
A state in the northeast of the United States with Boston as its capital
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'bay' and 'state' transparently suggest a state associated with bays, so a B1 learner who knows both words could infer it refers to a coastal state. However, the specific identification as the conventional nickname for Massachusetts and its historical connotations cannot be derived from the parts alone and requires cultural knowledge, making the expression only partially predictable.
Etymology
Bay State comes from the many bays by the sea in 'Massachusetts'. Because those bays were key places for early towns, fishing, and trade, people began calling the whole state the Bay State, so the phrase now means 'Massachusetts'.