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national monument

noun
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Definition of national monument

: a place of historic, scenic, or scientific interest set aside for preservation usually by presidential proclamation

Examples of national monument in a Sentence

the Statue of Liberty National Monument
Recent Examples on the Web In 2017, Trump shrunk the monument from nearly 3,000 square miles to 1,569 square miles after a review of 27 national monuments by then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. — CBS News, "U.S. government issues final Utah monument plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante," 23 Aug. 2019 The pollution has been so pervasive that national monuments were largely obscured by thick smog. — Sanya Mansoor, Time, "Air Pollution Turned India's Capital Into a 'Gas Chamber.' It's Part of a Global Trend Killing 7 Million Prematurely Each Year," 5 Nov. 2019 When Terry Brown took over the national monument at Fort Monroe three years ago, the absence of black history — his history — bothered him. — Max Cohen, USA Today, "Slavery in America: Some historical sites try to show the horrors. Others are far behind.," 17 Oct. 2019 In 2009, Obama signed legislation to allow persons to carry arms on the lands (though not buildings) of national parks, national monuments, and national wildlife refuges when in compliance with the host state’s laws for lawful carry. — David B. Kopel, National Review, "Trump Must Not Break His Promises to Gun-Rights Supporters," 16 Aug. 2019 The Hill notes that the Obama administration created a number of new national monuments to preclude drilling operations. — Megan Geuss, Ars Technica, "Drilling on US public lands causes 24 percent of the nation’s CO2 emissions," 27 Nov. 2018 The act will also establish new national monuments, expand the territory of some national parks, and shelter public lands from future mining. — Jessica Mordo, Sunset, "The Senate Just Passed a Bill Protecting National Parks and We Couldn’t Be Happier," 22 Jan. 2018 Obama also issued proclamations to declare new national monuments in Utah and Nevada in his final days in office. — Kevin Freking, chicagotribune.com, "Trump derided Obama’s executive orders as ‘power grabs.’ But in each year of his presidency, Trump has surpassed Obama’s total over the same time span.," 19 Oct. 2019 The National Audubon Society is getting involved in a lawsuit over the future of a national monument located in the ocean off New England because of the area’s importance to birds. — Washington Post, "Audubon intervenes to protect ocean monument for puffins," 15 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'national monument.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of national monument

1879, in the meaning defined above

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Time Traveler for national monument

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The first known use of national monument was in 1879

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Statistics for national monument

Last Updated

9 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“National monument.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/national%20monument. Accessed 14 December 2019.

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More Definitions for national monument

national monument

noun

English Language Learners Definition of national monument

: a place (such as an old building or an area of land) that is owned and protected by a national government because of its natural beauty or its importance to history or science

See the full definition for national monument in the English Language Learners Dictionary

More from Merriam-Webster on national monument

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about national monument

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