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Santa Ana

American  
[san-tuh an-uh, sahn-tah ah-nah] / ˈsæn tə ˈæn ə, ˈsɑn tɑ ˈɑ nɑ /

noun

  1. a city in southwestern California.

  2. a city in northwestern El Salvador.

  3. Meteorology. (in southern California) a weather condition in which strong, hot, dust-bearing winds descend to the Pacific coast around Los Angeles from inland desert regions.

  4. Santa Anna.

Santa Ana British  

noun

  1. a city in NW El Salvador: the second largest city in the country; coffee-processing industry. Pop: 172 000 (2005 est)

  2. a city in SW California: commercial and processing centre of a rich agricultural region. Pop: 342 510 (2003 est)

"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
Santa Ana Scientific  
/ săn′təăn′ə /

  1. A strong, dry, hot wind that blows from the desert regions of southern California toward the Pacific coast, usually in winter. The Santa Ana wind occurs when a region of high pressure forms over the Great Basin (the high plateau east of the Sierra mountains and west of the Rocky mountains). The clockwise rotation of air around this high-pressure region forces air down from the plateau. As it descends, the air warms up and picks up speed. Because the wind is hot and dry, it contributes to the hazardous fire conditions of southern California.

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.

The fire erupted as much of Southern California is expected to face strong Santa Ana winds this weekend.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Santa Ana winds are expected to pound Southern California this weekend, from Friday through Saturday.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026

Valencia González, whose nicknames include “Baldy,” “Bimbo” and “R-3,” was born in Santa Ana, Calif. He also has a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

Tickets go on sale online starting March 20 for $20, or you can buy them for $25 on the day of the event at West Santa Clara and North Westwood avenues in Santa Ana.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

But a Santa Ana wind blew in, in the middle of the night.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.