1
a
: a medieval fortified group of houses forming a town with special duties and privileges
b
: a town or urban constituency in Great Britain that sends a member to Parliament
c
: an urban area in Great Britain incorporated for purposes of self-government
2
a
: a municipal corporation proper in some states (such as New Jersey and Minnesota) corresponding to the incorporated town or village of the other states
b
: one of the five constituent political divisions of New York City
3
: a civil division of the state of Alaska corresponding to a county in most other states
Examples of borough in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The extended map, however, will add to its already rich inventory of features some street-specific ones that, for ancient and complicated reasons, have been jealously guarded on thousands of paper maps by the five borough presidents.
—
Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2026
Officer Down Memorial Page A large group gathered outside the borough building on Friday to hear from those who knew the chief, including his mother.
—Ricky Sayer, CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
New York City’s redesigned outdoor dining program is too expensive and too bureaucratic for many small, diverse, neighborhood establishments across the five boroughs to participate in.
—Andrew Rigie, New York Daily News, 2 Jan. 2026
Mamdani acknowledged people, including those outside the five boroughs, want to see how a leftist will manage a municipal government.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 1 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for borough
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Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2026
Officer Down Memorial Page A large group gathered outside the borough building on Friday to hear from those who knew the chief, including his mother.
—Ricky Sayer, CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
New York City’s redesigned outdoor dining program is too expensive and too bureaucratic for many small, diverse, neighborhood establishments across the five boroughs to participate in.
—Andrew Rigie, New York Daily News, 2 Jan. 2026
Mamdani acknowledged people, including those outside the five boroughs, want to see how a leftist will manage a municipal government.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 1 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for borough
Cite this Entry
“Borough.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/borough. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
borough
noun
bor·ough
ˈbər-ō 
1
a
: a town or urban area in Great Britain that sends a member to Parliament
b
: a self-governing urban area in Great Britain
2
: a self-governing town or village in some states
3
: one of the five political divisions of New York City
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