New Mexico

American  

noun

1. a state in the southwestern United States. 121,666 sq. mi. (315,115 sq. km). Santa Fe. NM (for use with zip code), N. Mex., N.M.

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New Mexico British  

noun

1. Abbreviation: N. Mex..   NM.  a state of the southwestern US: high semiarid plateaus and mountains, crossed by the Rio Grande and the Pecos River; large Spanish-American and Indian populations; contains over two-thirds of US uranium reserves. Capital: Santa Fé. Pop: 1 874 614 (2003 est). Area: 314 451 sq km (121 412 sq miles)

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New Mexico Cultural  

1. State in the southwestern United States bordered by Colorado to the north, Oklahoma and Texas to the east, Texas and Mexico to the south, and Arizona to the west. Its capital is Santa Fe, and its largest city is Albuquerque.

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An important center of Native American culture and home to Navajo reservations.

Center of the Los Alamos Research Center, where the atomic bomb (see also atomic bomb) was developed.

Other Word Forms

• New Mexican adjective

Example Sentences

The first phase involved determining if he predated the "nuclear age", which began in 1945 when the US first tested the atom bomb in New Mexico, the coroner heard.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

Offering loans when others wouldn’t is the most common argument predatory lenders make to justify their practices, said Nathalie Martin, a University of New Mexico law professor who has studied high-cost loans.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026

It flew its first second aircraft in February at Spaceport America over White Sands Missile Range airspace in New Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

On Tuesday, the social-media company lost a landmark trial in New Mexico for failing to protect young people from online dangers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

Some of their passes and strikes came close to Corky, so we retired him to New Mexico, where I have a shack in the mountains.

From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen