boomtown

noun

boom·​town ˈbüm-ˌtau̇n How to pronounce boomtown (audio)
: a town enjoying a business and population boom

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web This boomtown is determined to be the best at everything, to land the biggest economic prizes and the most coveted quality-of-life accolades. Dallas News, 26 Apr. 2022 For years it’s marketed itself as an outdoorsy boomtown with a population set to top Denver’s by 2050. Sam Metz, Chicago Tribune, 25 Nov. 2022 This former mining boomtown had its heyday between 1877 and 1881 and was known as one of the wildest and roughest mining camps in the West, until its thousands of former residents fled in a hurry following a fire. Megan Michelson, Outside Online, 10 Oct. 2021 The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the most famous shoot-out in American frontier history, took place right here in Tombstone, a 19th-century silver-mining boomtown filled with more than 100 saloons, a bowling alley, and even an opera house. Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 15 Nov. 2021 Kit homes, designed to be efficient to build, aided boomtowns like Portland in the early 1900s. Jeastman, oregonlive, 15 Mar. 2023 Long before the Crispr-Cas9 breakthrough, however, the Bay Area was a biotech boomtown. Jeff Wheelwright, Discover Magazine, 2 May 2016 Araujo describes Rondon in its early days as a noisy, stinky boomtown of sawmills and livestock auctions where would-be fortune hunters flocked from poorer parts of Brazil. Richard Schiffman, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Mar. 2023 City officials stressed their priority was to their own residents and cast Rio Verde Foothills as a boomtown of irresponsible development, fed by noisy water trucks rumbling over city streets. Joshua Partlow, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Jan. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'boomtown.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of boomtown was in 1896

Dictionary Entries Near boomtown

Cite this Entry

“Boomtown.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boomtown. Accessed 7 Jun. 2023.

Kids Definition

boomtown

noun
boom·​town ˈbüm-ˌtau̇n How to pronounce boomtown (audio)
: a town experiencing a sudden growth in business and population
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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