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• northwest
  northwest

  noun

  a point on the compass midway between north and west. NW
• Northwest
  Northwest

  noun

  the northwestern part of England, esp Lancashire and the Lake District

northwest

American  

[nawrth-west, nawr-west] / ˌnɔrθˈwɛst, ˌnɔrˈwɛst /

noun

1. a point on the compass midway between north and west. NW

2. a region in this direction.

3. the Northwest,

   1. the northwestern part of the United States, especially Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

   2. the northwestern part of the United States when its western boundary was the Mississippi River.

   3. the northwestern part of Canada.

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adjective

1. coming from the northwest.

   a northwest wind.

2. directed toward the northwest.

   sailing a northwest course.

adverb

1. from the northwest.

2. toward the northwest.

   sailing northwest.

northwest ¹ British  

/ ˌnɔːθˈwɛst, ˌnɔːˈwɛst /

noun

1. the point of the compass or direction midway between north and west, 315° clockwise from north

2. (often capital) any area lying in or towards this direction

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adjective

1. (sometimes capital) of or denoting the northwestern part of a specified country, area, etc

   northwest Greenland

adjective

1. in, to, towards, or (esp of the wind) from the northwest

Northwest ² British  

/ ˌnɔːθˈwɛst /

noun

1. the northwestern part of England, esp Lancashire and the Lake District

2. the northwestern part of the US, consisting of the states of Washington, Oregon, and sometimes Idaho

3. (in Canada) the region north and west of the Great Lakes

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Other Word Forms

• northwestern
  adjective
• northwesternmost
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of northwest

before 900; Middle English, Old English; see north, west

Example Sentences

The larger Terafab complex could be developed in Grimes County, Texas, located northwest of Houston.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

Guillermo Ramos remembers seeing few elected leaders who looked like him while he was growing up in the 1980s in Farmers Branch, a fast-growing affluent suburb northwest of Dallas.

From Salon • May 7, 2026

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said an oil terminal in northwest Russia had been significantly damaged, while two Russian oil tankers were struck near the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

From BBC • May 3, 2026

Ahmad, his wife, and his two daughters eventually settled in uptown Oklahoma City, four miles northwest of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

From Slate • Apr. 19, 2026

A week later, another operative from the team—No. 46—was sent to locate Brown in Ponca City, twenty-five miles northwest of Gray Horse.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann