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western

western

181 1.7
Relating to the western United States, like states west of the Mississippi
  • adjective
  • /ˈwɛstərn/
  • US
: occidental
  • The hiking trail offers stunning views of the western mountains at sunset.
  • the western United States
  • western state
  • western part

Examples

  • The western regions are known for their diverse wildlife and expansive national parks.

  • Although he was from western Massachusetts and I was from Western New York State.

  • Confirmed target area: Western United States.

  • The western forces are stopped 120 miles from the sea.

  • A foundation is working toward building a full-scale model in the western United States.

    Academic text (2011)
  • I had just moved to this western industrial town and didn't know a soul.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • This is along the Erie Canal in the western part of the state.

  • I have been in that predicament myself, in Western Virginia and then in the Carolinas.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Members of the People's Liberation Army have entered this western region of China... at the urging of the Tibetan minority.

  • Pursuits shifted northward into the Texas Panhandle, western Oklahoma, and south-central Kansas.

    Academic text (1999)

Antonyms

834 1.0

The part of a country, area, or city that is on the east side

Idioms

Nothing important or unusual is happening now after recent activity

Compounds

43 3.4

Countries in Europe, North America, and South America that have similar ways of life, governments, and economies

Culture, ideas, and social systems of Western Europe and North America that began in ancient Greece and Rome

The half of the Earth that includes North and South America

A group of shared ideas, customs, and ways of living from Europe and North America

The part of the United States west of the Mississippi River, including California and Nevada

9 3.2

Music from the southern United States often played on guitar or fiddle with simple tunes

A state in the west of Australia with Perth as its capital

5 6.7

A remaining wall of the ancient Jewish temple in Jerusalem where people pray

A low-budget Western film made in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s

A region in northwest Africa on the Atlantic coast that many countries disagree about and that Morocco mostly controls

The western part of the Roman Empire after its split in 395 that ended in 476

2 2.2

A folded egg dish with ham, peppers and onions

A branch of the Christian church based in Rome led by the pope and bishops

western red cedar
  • Specialized
1 5.8

A large evergreen tree with reddish durable wood used for building and furniture

western lowland gorilla
  • South African
1 5.5

A large ape from the forests of western Central Africa that is the most common gorilla

The western part of ancient Rome that lasted from 395 to 476

A large venomous rattlesnake with diamond-shaped marks on its back from the United States and Mexico

A venomous snake with a rattle on its tail that lives in western North America

Western Samoa
  • Literature
1 4.9

The former name of the country now called Samoa in the South Pacific

A group of islands off the west coast of Scotland, also called the Outer Hebrides, including Lewis and Harris

A large snake that has venom, a rattle, and diamond markings that lives in the US Southwest and Mexico

1 4.1

A saddle with a high horn at the front that riders use and often decorate

western hemlock
  • Specialized
1 7.4

A tall evergreen tree from western North America that provides soft wood for building

1 8.9

A brightly colored songbird from western North America with black, yellow and orange red feathers

1 7.0

A tick in the western United States that bites people and spreads Lyme disease

1 9.9

A split in the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417 when rival popes ruled from Rome and Avignon

A tall pine tree from western North America with blue-green needles and grey-brown bark

1 6.0

A large toad that lives west of the Rocky Mountains from Alaska to Baja California

1 4.8

A person or group from outside Europe and North America

western gray squirrel
  • Specialized
1 5.4

A large gray tree squirrel with a bushy tail that lives in western United States forests

western larch
  • Specialized
1 8.2

A tall North American tree with needles that turn golden in autumn and long cones, valued for strong wood

western meadowlark
  • Specialized
1 9.8

A medium-sized bird with a bright yellow chest that sings in open grasslands

western kingbird
  • Specialized
1 8.9

A large western North American bird with a pale grey back, yellow belly, and black tail that catches insects

A group of over 500 islands off Scotland's west coast called the Outer Hebrides

western fence lizard
  • Specialized
1 8.1

A common scaly reptile in western North America that basks on rocks and logs

A poisonous shrub on the west coast of North America that causes an itchy skin rash when touched

A grass that lives many years in western North America and that farm animals eat

A small toad from California that burrows and has spade-shaped feet

western chimpanzee
  • Specialized
1 6.9

A type of chimpanzee that lives in West Africa and has lighter faces and different genes from other chimpanzees

A plant from western North America with bright orange yellow flowers

1 9.8

A small or medium tree with hard wood that grows on the Pacific coast of North America

western big-eared bat
  • Specialized
1 8.4

A bat with very large ears that lives in western North America

Western box turtle
  • Specialized
1 6.6

A land turtle with a shell that closes living on prairies in the western United States and northern Mexico

A snake with venom and red, yellow, black bands that lives in southwest US and Central America

1 7.6

A shrub from the western United States with bright pink or crimson flowers that grows in dense groups

1 2.8

A sandwich with an egg omelet, ham, onions, and peppers between slices of bread

A vigorous climbing plant from Western Australia with dense clusters of bright pink-purple flowers

5.9

A tool with a head that has sharp edges on both sides used for chopping wood

Western balsam poplar
  • Specialized
7.9

A tall tree from western North America with dark glossy leaves and silvery or rusty undersides

Western birch
  • Specialized
8.2

A tree with brownish bark that grows in western parts of the United States

A wildflower from western North America that lives many years and has shiny yellow flowers

A small tree or bush with small sour dark fruit used for jam and eaten by birds

A wild bush that produces long black berries and grows in western North America

A small, slender snake that lives underground in the western United States deserts and has very poor sight

western dewberry
  • Specialized
8.7

A wild blackberry bush with long black fruit that grows in western North America

Western concert flute
  • Specialized
4.7

A metal or wooden instrument held sideways and played by blowing across a hole used in orchestras and bands

A wild small apple tree with sweet-smelling pink flowers

9.9

A small wild plant in western United States with white flowers arranged in a spiral

A thorny small tree with deep roots that grows in dry areas and has sweet pods used as animal feed

western holly fern
  • Specialized
8.4

A North American plant with thick, shiny, sharp-edged leaves that grows in mountains

A small tree from the western coast of North America with groups of red berries

A plant with soft white leaves that smell strong and lives for many years in the southwestern United States

A small toad with smooth tough skin that hides and lives in central and western North America

9.9

A group of related languages spoken in parts of Southeast Asia and the western Pacific

A birch tree from the western United States with brown bark and thin branches

western ragweed
  • Specialized
9.9

A tough wild plant with creeping roots that grows in dry, rocky places in the US southwest and Mexico

A small salamander with a red stripe on its back that lives in moist Pacific coast forests

A plant that lives many years in western North America with large hairy white flowers

western pipistrel
  • Specialized
9.9

A small bat from western North America that eats insects and lives in dry areas

7.7

A plant that lives for one year with bright red flowers that grows in California

A small plant from Europe and Asia with white or pink flowers in a cluster at the top

A warm reddish-brown paint or stain used to finish wood

A small plant with white flowers that grows on moist slopes in western North America

Surface Forms

western positive

Morphology

western = west (transparent) = west + ern

The regional U.S. sense ('of the Western U.S.') is a standard, predictable meaning of 'west' + '-ern'.

Etymology

Western (for the United States) uses the same root west, meaning 'where the sun sets'; as settlers moved into the land to the west, the word western came to mean the region and its way of life.