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Glite Dictionary
to address the nation

to address the nation

13 4.8
To make a formal speech to the people of a country
  • phrasal verb
  • Formal
translation icon : dirigirse a la nación
  • The president is getting ready to address the nation.
  • president addresses the nation
  • Trump addressed the nation
  • Bush addressed the nation

The President of the United States will address the nation and on came Roosevelt, our hero.

Examples

  • Once the President sees the danger from Congress, the first thing he will want to do is address the nation on television.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The president addresses the nation.

    9/11: Minute by Minute (2021)

  • The Prime Minister is expected to address the nation on the international crisis later this evening.

    Threads (1984)

  • The president will begin by addressing the nation.

    Deep Impact (1998)

  • President Kennedy will address the nation tonight on radio and television on a subject of the highest national urgency.

    Thirteen Days (2000)

  • That night, the Little Rock Nine watched on TV as an angry President Eisenhower addressed the nation about their situation.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • President Bush is planning to address the nation Thursday morning about the Iraq war, according to sources in the Bush administration and on Capitol Hill.

    Blog text (3)

  • When President Bush addressed the nation last September 20, he cautioned us that "freedom and fear are at war."

    Blog text (5)

  • As President Obama addresses the nation on health care reform, a new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies estimates that 6.6 million uninsured illegal immigrants could receive benefits under the House health reform bill (H.R. 3200).

    Blog text (33)

  • The president is getting ready to address the nation.

Synonyms

to speak
vsto address the nation
  • Formal
∞ 3.2

To give a formal talk to a group of people

targets the nation's citizens specifically and usually comes from a leader
to make a speech
vsto address the nation
  • Formal
35 2.8

Give a formal talk to people at a public or special event

is intended for the whole country's people and often from an official
to deliver a speech
vsto address the nation
  • Formal
8 3.3

To give a formal talk to an audience

is aimed at the whole country's people and usually delivered by a leader
to speak in public
vsto address the nation
  • Formal
5 3.9

To talk in front of a group of people

addresses the entire country's population and is typically by a leader

Antonyms

to be quiet
231 1.0

To stop making noise or talking

How Public

to address the nation
  • Formal
13 4.8
to make a speech
  • Formal
35 2.8
to talk
∞ 3.4
to speak to
∞ 1.7

Surface Forms

address the nation infinitive
addressed the nation past
addressed the nation past participle
addressing the nation present participle
addresses the nation third person singular

Morphology

address + the + nation

The meaning is directly derivable from 'address' (to speak formally to an assembly) combined with 'nation' (the country's people); a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer it means to make a formal speech to the country's citizens. This is a literal verb + object composition found cross-linguistically and follows standard, transparent usage rather than an idiomatic shift.

Etymology

The phrase address the nation comes from the simple image of a leader standing at a podium and speaking to everyone in the country, often by radio or TV. Here address means 'speak to' and nation means the whole 'country', so the phrase came to mean 'to make a formal speech to the citizens'.