1
a
: a compactly settled area usually larger than a village but smaller than a city
b
: a compactly settled area as distinguished from surrounding rural territory
c
: a large densely populated urban area : city
d
: an English village having a periodic fair or market
2
: a particular town or city under consideration
the circus came to town
3
: the city or urban life as contrasted with the country
4
a
: the inhabitants of a city or town
practically the whole town turned out for the parade
b
: the townspeople of a college or university town as distinct from the academic community
relations between town and gown
5
: a New England territorial and political unit usually containing under a single town government both rural areas and urban areas not having their own charter of incorporation
also
: a New England community governed by a town meeting
6
dialectal, England
: a cluster or aggregation of houses recognized as a distinct place with a place-name : hamlet
7
: a group of prairie dog burrows
town
adjective
Examples of town in a Sentence
the town of Jackson, Florida
The nearest shopping mall is two towns away.
The town plans to increase property taxes.
We're heading to town later on.
Recent Examples on the Web
Advertisement The project’s planners estimate that 350,000 people will move from mainland India to staff the complex, live in the new town, increasing the island’s population almost 40 times.
—
M. Rajshekhar, Time, 11 Sep. 2025
The workers were taken into custody last week during a sweeping ICE raid at Hyundai’s battery plant in Ellabell, a quiet town about 25 miles west of Savannah.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025
The type gives way to facsimile pages covered with the handwritten names and ages of the more than 3,100 people who died in the Allied bombing of Düren, a town close to the western border of Germany.
—Book Marks
september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
In the early 1960s, U Thant, a practicing Buddhist from a remote town in Burma, became the first non-Western secretary-general of the United Nations.
—Michele Kelemen, NPR, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for town
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M. Rajshekhar, Time, 11 Sep. 2025
The workers were taken into custody last week during a sweeping ICE raid at Hyundai’s battery plant in Ellabell, a quiet town about 25 miles west of Savannah.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025
The type gives way to facsimile pages covered with the handwritten names and ages of the more than 3,100 people who died in the Allied bombing of Düren, a town close to the western border of Germany.
—Book Marks
september 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025
In the early 1960s, U Thant, a practicing Buddhist from a remote town in Burma, became the first non-Western secretary-general of the United Nations.
—Michele Kelemen, NPR, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for town
Cite this Entry
“Town.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/town. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
town
noun1
a
: a compactly settled area that is usually larger than a village but smaller than a city
b
2
: the people of a town
town
adjective
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