Border States
Americanplural noun
-
U.S. History. the Slave States of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, which refused to secede from the Union in 1860–61.
-
the U.S. states touching the Canadian border.
-
certain countries of central and northern Europe that border on the former Soviet Union and belonged to the Russian Empire: Finland, Poland (prior to 1940), Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Solid South plus New York plus all the Border States would be 223 votes.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
Senator from Kentucky, as the vice-presidential prospect most likely to help the ticket in the Border States and the South.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
Smith would have to carry most of the Border States to be within striking distance.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
The eleven states of the Old Confederacy contain 128 electoral votes and five Border States add 42, for a total of 170.
From Time Magazine Archive
![]()
The slaves must be freed in the Border States.
From History of Woman Suffrage, Volume II by Stanton, Elizabeth Cady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.