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⚔️ A famous battle 🌊 A US river
Little Bighorn

Little Bighorn

6.7
A river in Wyoming and Montana that flows by the 1876 battle site
  • proper noun
  • /ˈlɪtəl ˈbɪɡhɔrn/
translation icon : Little Bighorn
  • The Little Bighorn flows through both Wyoming and Montana, offering scenic views along its banks.

Examples

  • The Little Bighorn River flows through Wyoming.

  • Wow! The Little Bighorn area is breathtaking!

  • Custer's troops camped along the Little Bighorn before the battle began.

  • The Battle of the Little Bighorn is one of the most famous events in American history.

  • Custer's troops camped along the Little Bighorn before the battle began.

  • The Little Bighorn flows through both Wyoming and Montana, offering scenic views along its banks.

  • The Little Bighorn River flows through Wyoming.

Synonyms

Little Bighorn River
vsLittle Bighorn
6.9

A river in the western United States famous for the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn

is the shorter common name used for that river and its famous battle site
Little Horn
vsLittle Bighorn
8.1

A river that flows from northern Wyoming into the Bighorn River in southern Montana known for Custer's Last Stand

uses the standard battle name rather than a personal or informal label

Surface Forms

Little Bighorn main

Morphology

Little + Bighorn

Little Bighorn is a proper name for a specific river and historic battle; a B1 learner who knows 'little' and the literal senses of 'bighorn' would not be able to infer 'river in Wyoming' or 'site of an 1876 battle' from those constituents. As a toponym and historical reference, its meaning is not compositionally derived from the parts and is therefore unpredictable to learners.

Etymology

Little Bighorn is the name of a river that early travellers named after the wild bighorn sheep they saw and because it was the 'little', smaller branch near the Big Horn River. That's why maps and stories call that waterway Little Bighorn.