neighborhood

noun

neigh·​bor·​hood ˈnā-bər-ˌhu̇d 

1

: neighborly relationship

… a closer feeling of brotherhood, a more efficient sense of neighborhood …

—Nathaniel Hawthorne

2

: the quality or state of being neighbors : proximity

… refugees from the country, driven by fear or the neighborhood of armies.

—F. L. Paxson

3

a

: a place or region near : vicinity

somewhere in the neighborhood of that city

b

: an approximate amount, extent, or degree

cost in the neighborhood of $100

4

a

: the people living near one another

The whole neighborhood heard about it.

b

: a section lived in by neighbors and usually having distinguishing characteristics

a quiet neighborhood

5

: the set (see set entry 2 sense 21) of all points belonging to a given set whose distances from a given point are less than a given positive (see positive entry 1 sense 4e) number

broadly : a set that contains a neighborhood

Synonyms of neighborhood

• vicinity
• tune

Examples of neighborhood in a Sentence

They bought a house in a beautiful neighborhood.

The whole neighborhood heard about it.

Recent Examples on the Web

The equipment was put to use in an overnight raid in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, when agents clad in tactical gear rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter and burst through the windows of an apartment building to pull families from their homes. —Andy Rose 19 Hr Ago, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025

The factory is located in the Mimar Sinon neighborhood of Dilovasi, about 43 miles outside Istanbul. —Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 9 Nov. 2025

Advertisement 'Exhausted and bruised' The first video from last week, in which agents drive away with a toddler still in the back, took place in Los Angeles during a raid at Home Depot in the Cypress Park neighborhood. —Rebecca Schneid, Time, 9 Nov. 2025

The neighborhood deteriorated throughout the 1980s and ’90s, even as newcomers from Central America, Southeast Asia and the Soviet Union poured in. —Oren Peleg, HollywoodReporter, 9 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing neighborhood

• in the neighborhood
• in the neighborhood of
• neighborhood watch

Rhymes for neighborhood

• adulthood
• babyhood
• brotherhood
• cottonwood
• fatherhood
• firewood
• fuelwood
• hardihood
• ironwood
• leatherwood
• likelihood
• livelihood

Kids Definition

neighborhood

noun

neigh·​bor·​hood ˈnā-bər-ˌhu̇d 

1

: the quality or state of being neighbors

2

a

: a place or region near : vicinity

b

: a number or amount near

cost in the neighborhood of $10

3

a

: the people living near one another

b

: a section lived in by people who consider themselves neighbors