plural migrants
: someone or something that migrates: such as
a
: a person who moves regularly in order to find work especially in harvesting crops
farms employing migrants during the growing season
b
: immigrant sense a
especially
: refugee
… administration officials announced they would work to swiftly screen migrants seeking asylum at the border … and penalize people who cross illegally into the U.S. or illegally through another country on their way to the U.S. border. —
Colleen Long
Colleen Long
c
: an animal (such as a gray whale, monarch butterfly, leatherback sea turtle, or Canada goose) that moves usually long distances from one habitat or geographic region to another
migrant
adjective
migrant labor
migrant birds
Examples of migrant in a Sentence
migrants in search of work on farms
Not all birds are migrants.
Recent Examples on the Web
Song and the other defendants were motivated by the position that the migrants who are detained at the ICE center are political prisoners, Smith asserted.
—Emerson Clarridge
updated February 26, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Feb. 2026
In recent years, there have been several incidents involving Cuba’s coast guards and boats from the United States, usually carrying migrants trying to leave the island or involved in drug trafficking.
—Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 25 Feb. 2026
On the anniversary itself, July 4, Leo will be visiting the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, the main arrival point of migrants who are smuggled to Europe from north Africa.
—ABC News, 25 Feb. 2026
Under the policy issued last March and reaffirmed last July, immigration officers did not need to give notice or an opportunity for migrants to contest their removal to third countries, so long as the government had received word from that country that deportees would not be persecuted or tortured.
—Jacob Rosen, CBS News, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for migrant
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Emerson Clarridge
updated February 26, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Feb. 2026
In recent years, there have been several incidents involving Cuba’s coast guards and boats from the United States, usually carrying migrants trying to leave the island or involved in drug trafficking.
—Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 25 Feb. 2026
On the anniversary itself, July 4, Leo will be visiting the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, the main arrival point of migrants who are smuggled to Europe from north Africa.
—ABC News, 25 Feb. 2026
Under the policy issued last March and reaffirmed last July, immigration officers did not need to give notice or an opportunity for migrants to contest their removal to third countries, so long as the government had received word from that country that deportees would not be persecuted or tortured.
—Jacob Rosen, CBS News, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for migrant
Cite this Entry
“Migrant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/migrant. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
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