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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 first project is a roughly 500-mile all-season gravel road in the Northwest Territories, connecting its capital Yellowknife with Inuvik, Canada’s largest town north of the Arctic Circle.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 24, 2026

Fervo Energy partners with Nvidia and Pacific Northwest Laboratory to develop an AI-driven digital platform for geothermal drilling.

From Barron's • Jun. 22, 2026

The Pacific Northwest, on the other hand, generally gets drier winters.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2026

Meta makes one annual tax payment to Richland Parish that is equivalent to 1% of its purchases, a representative for the Northwest Louisiana Finance Authority said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

Then as now, the Northwest Coast, thick with fruit and fruits de mer, was a gatherer’s paradise: wild strawberries, wild blueberries, soapberries, huckleberries, thimbleberries, salmonberries; clams, cockles, mussels, oysters; flounder, hake, salmon.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann