national

adjective

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na·tion·al | \ ˈnash-nəl

, ˈna-shə-nᵊl \

Definition of national

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : of or relating to a nation national boundaries the national flag

2 : nationalist

3 : comprising or characteristic of a nationality his national accent was plainly audible— Elinor Wylie

4 : belonging to or maintained by the federal government the National Museum of American History

5 : of, relating to, or being a coalition (see coalition sense 2) government formed by most or all major political parties usually in a crisis

national

noun

Definition of national (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : one that owes allegiance to or is under the protection of a nation without regard to the more formal status of citizen or subject

2 : a competition that is national in scope —usually used in plural

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Choose the Right Synonym for national

Noun

citizen, subject, national mean a person owing allegiance to and entitled to the protection of a sovereign state. citizen is preferred for one owing allegiance to a state in which sovereign power is retained by the people and sharing in the political rights of those people. the rights of a free citizen subject implies allegiance to a personal sovereign such as a monarch. the king's subjects national designates one who may claim the protection of a state and applies especially to one living or traveling outside that state. American nationals working in the Middle East

Examples of national in a Sentence

Adjective She won the national championship last year. His test scores were higher than the national average. Doing well in the Olympics is a matter of national pride. Baseball is called America's national pastime. The game was shown on national television. Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. the National Museum of Art Noun She's a Mexican national now working in the United States. The U.S. Nationals will be held in New York City this year.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective How better to do that than to create this national founding myth around the Pilgrims and the Indians inviting them to take over the land? — Claire Bugos, Smithsonian, "The Myths of the Thanksgiving Story and the Lasting Damage They Imbue," 27 Nov. 2019 The Amazon show is a plea to set democracy aside and let national security experts run the world. — Andrew Lanham, The New Republic, "Jack Ryan, American Imperialist," 25 Nov. 2019 For one, while the region has high electric rates, its strong energy efficiency programs mean electric bills are well in line with the national average. — Benjamin Storrow, Scientific American, "Cities Look to Natural Gas Bans to Curb Carbon Emissions," 25 Nov. 2019 Taken together, the rate of serious injuries for those facilities was more than double the national average for the warehousing industry: 9.6 serious injuries per 100 full-time workers in 2018, compared with an industry average that year of 4. — Will Evans, The Atlantic, "Behind the Smiles," 25 Nov. 2019 The new center will enhance information sharing, and also act as a window into the national security world — potentially opening up career paths in government for young San Antonians. — Diego Mendoza-moyers, ExpressNews.com, "Retired brigadier general, pilot takes helm at UTSA’s national security center," 25 Nov. 2019 The guideline includes exemptions, but they are limited: If ICE leadership determines an arrest is critical for national security, for example, or if a top official such as the labor secretary deems it necessary. — Eli Rosenberg, Anchorage Daily News, "How a worker who survived a catastrophic New Orleans building collapse ended up in ICE detention," 25 Nov. 2019 Childcare is often treated like a women’s issue, and is sidelined by the economy or national security. — Annabelle Timsit, Quartz, "It took four female moderators to get US presidential candidates to debate childcare," 21 Nov. 2019 In 1995, the village received national attention when the 13 homeowners agreed to sell the village if an investor gave them $15 million. — Lisa J. Huriash, sun-sentinel.com, "Broward’s smallest village could vanish after being chastised for improper elections," 20 Nov. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Arrivals of first-time Chinese students into the US has declined in the past two years, as shown in the number of annual student visas issued to Chinese nationals. — Youyou Zhou, Quartz, "The decline of new international students to the US has nearly stopped," 18 Nov. 2019 The special counsel investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 vote produced indictments of more than a dozen foreign nationals. — Jessica Huseman, ProPublica, "The Market for Voting Machines Is Broken. This Company Has Thrived in It.," 28 Oct. 2019 The protesters were also said to be screening cars and stores in search of foreign nationals to attack. — Yomi Kazeem, Quartz Africa, "Xenophobic attacks on African migrants in South Africa have been escalated by misinformation," 4 Sep. 2019 The verdict raised new questions about the legal treatment of thousands of foreign nationals formerly with the extremist group. — Bloomberg.com, "Iraqi Court Sentences Three French Members of Islamic State to Death," 26 May 2019 Gorsuch questioned why the 1971 case applies only to a law enforcement officer, and not in other governmental actions that result in injuries to foreign nationals abroad. — Kristine Phillips, USA TODAY, "Supreme Court appears split in case of Mexican teen killed by US agent in cross-border shooting," 12 Nov. 2019 The Chinese money brokers would then transfer the drug proceeds in U.S. dollars to a processor in the United States, who advertised and sold the large amount of U.S. money to Chinese nationals in America. — oregonlive, "Three men accused in international money laundering scheme pairing Mexican drug traffickers, Chinese nationals," 18 Oct. 2019 From managing expectations about jobs to creating new dystopic images about anti-nationals, every modern state is in the business of constant focusing and refocusing of citizens’ attentions. — Rajesh Kasturirangan, Quartz India, "Authoritarian regimes are using algorithms to control minds and power," 3 Oct. 2019 The consulate provides consular assistance to British nationals in the New England region. — BostonGlobe.com, "The Coast Guard took to Twitter to publicize the daring rescue.," 18 Sep. 2019

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

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Last Updated

29 Nov 2019

Cite this Entry

“National.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nationally. Accessed 12 December 2019.

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national

adjective