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inland

American  
[in-luhnd, in-land, -luhnd] / ˈɪn lənd, ˈɪnˌlænd, -lənd /

adjective

  1. pertaining to or situated in the interior part of a country or region.

    inland cities.

  2. British. domestic or internal.

    inland revenue.


adverb

  1. in or toward the interior of a country.

noun

  1. the interior part of a country.

inland British  

adjective

  1. of, concerning, or located in the interior of a country or region away from a sea or border

  2. operating within a country or region; domestic; not foreign

"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

noun

  1. the interior of a country or region

"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

adverb

  1. towards or into the interior of a country or region

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of inland

before 950; Middle English, Old English; see in- 1, land

Explanation

Inland means far away from the ocean, or in the very middle of a country. If you were born and grew up in Kansas, you're familiar with inland living. The opposite of inland is coastal. When you travel to the rocky coast of Maine or the soft sandy beaches of Florida, you're far from being inland — you return to your inland home town when you fly back to Gary, Indiana. Inland comes from the Old English inn lond, "land around the mansion of an estate," and it began to mean "land far from the coast" in the 16th century.

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Vocabulary lists containing inland

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.

Longtime radio personalities Evelyn Erives, Nick Nack and Garrison King were all cut from the Inland Empire station last week as part of iHeartMedia’s latest round of national layoffs.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2026

Torres, of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, said he was disappointed that Riverside officials did not make the report public upon receiving it last summer.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026

Duane and Kelly Roberts, residents of Laguna Beach, also established the hotel’s annual Festival of Lights, an Inland Empire holiday tradition.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2026

Victor Glover, who grew up in the Inland Empire, is now the only pilot to have flown NASA’s Orion capsule.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026

The fishermen say the Heike samurai wander the bottoms of the Inland Sea still—in the form of crabs.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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