Manifest Destiny

[ man-uh-fest des-tuh-nee ]
See synonyms for Manifest Destiny on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the belief or doctrine, held chiefly in the middle and latter part of the 19th century, that it was the destiny of the U.S. to expand its territory over the whole of North America and to extend and enhance its political, social, and economic influences.

Origin of Manifest Destiny

1
First recorded in 1835–45

Words Nearby Manifest Destiny

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Manifest Destiny in a sentence

  • This is the Manifest Destiny of our country, and to this unveiled glory are we marching on.

  • It was so inevitable that it impressed upon all those engaged in it the belief in Manifest Destiny.

    Humanly Speaking | Samuel McChord Crothers
  • Manifest Destiny iz the science ov going tew the devil, or enny other place before yu git thare.

    Josh Billings, Hiz Sayings | Henry Wheeler Shaw
  • Munroe doctrine and Manifest Destiny are not named; but they are shadowed forth in language worthy of a Talleyrand.

  • Diego Columbus devoutly decided that it was Manifest Destiny that Cuba should belong to Spain.

    Hernando Cortez | John S. C. Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny

noun
  1. (esp in the 19th-century US) the belief that the US was a chosen land that had been allotted the entire North American continent by God

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for manifest destiny

manifest destiny

A popular slogan of the 1840s. It was used by people who believed that the United States was destined — by God, some said — to expand across North America to the Pacific Ocean. The idea of manifest destiny was used to justify the acquisition of Oregon and large parts of the Southwest, including California. (See Mexican War.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.