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Glite Dictionary
Hawkeye State

Hawkeye State

1 7.8
A nickname for the state of Iowa in the United States
  • proper noun
  • /ˈhɔːkaɪ steɪt/
  • US
translation icon : Estado de Hawkeye
  • The Iowa State Fair is a major attraction in the Hawkeye State every summer.

Examples

  • For good government advocates in the Hawkeye State, the new legislation was cause for celebration - sort of.

    Blog text (11)

  • Greetings from the Hawkeye State.

    Beautiful (2000)

  • From Indiana, Clinton headed to Iowa to help raise funds for Democrats in the Hawkeye State.

    Blog text (17)

  • Gaskill, a former county auditor for Wapello County, was referring to the number of absentee votes that have been turned in around the Hawkeye State.

    Blog text (11)

  • DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Calling the Hawkeye State the "political center of gravity," Vice President Joe Biden joked Wednesday about his own recent slip when he told an Ohio crowd that he was in Iowa.

    Blog text (11)

  • During the caucus season, candidates often visit the Hawkeye State to connect with voters.

  • Many people in the Hawkeye State take pride in their rich agricultural heritage.

Synonyms

Iowa
vsHawkeye State
733 1.0

A state in the middle of the United States with Des Moines as its capital

is a nickname rather than the state's official name
IA
vsHawkeye State
17 3.2

A state of the United States called Iowa with capital Des Moines

is a nickname rather than an abbreviated label for the state

Surface Forms

Hawkeye State main

Morphology

hawkeye + state

The meaning 'a nickname for the state of Iowa' is directly derivable from combining 'hawkeye' (a person associated with Iowa) with 'state' (a regional political entity), so the composition is straightforward. Nickname formations of the form 'X State' are common and compositional, making this understandable to a B1 learner who already knows the constituent 'hawkeye' and 'state' (though recognizing 'hawkeye' as Iowa-specific requires some cultural knowledge).

Etymology

Hawkeye State may come from a long-ago newspaper called the 'Hawk-Eye' that used the name of the Native American leader Black Hawk and the brave hunter Hawkeye from a popular story. Because that name became famous in the area, people began to call Iowa the Hawkeye State, so today it simply means 'the state of Iowa'.