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• southwest
  southwest

  noun

  the point or direction midway between south and west. SW
• Southwest
  Southwest

  noun

  the southwestern part of Britain, esp Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset

southwest

American  

[sauth-west, sau-west] / ˌsaʊθˈwɛst, ˌsaʊˈwɛst /

noun

1. the point or direction midway between south and west. SW

2. a region in this direction.

3. the Southwest, the southwest region of the United States.

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adjective

1. lying toward, situated in, or directed toward the southwest.

2. coming from the southwest, as a wind.

adverb

1. in the direction midway between south and west.

southwest ¹ British  

/ ˌsaʊˈwɛst, ˌsaʊθˈwɛst /

noun

1. the point of the compass or the direction midway between west and south, 225° clockwise from north

2. any area lying in or towards this direction

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adjective

1. (sometimes capital) of or denoting the southwestern part of a specified country, area, etc

   southwest Italy

2. situated in or towards the southwest

3. (esp of the wind) from the southwest

adverb

1. in, to, towards, or (esp of the wind) from the southwest

Southwest ² British  

/ ˌsaʊθˈwɛst /

noun

1. the southwestern part of Britain, esp Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset

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Other Word Forms

• southwestern
  adjective
• southwesternmost
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of southwest

before 900; Middle English; Old English sūthwest. See south, west

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

southwest Southwest

Those failures included not flagging transactions that possibly involved Chinese money laundering networks or trade-based laundering "with a substantial nexus to the southwest border", according to the Treasury.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

During his suspension in August 2023, Paxton visited St. George, Utah, a small city in the state’s southwest corner.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

For the southwest the rise is around 12 percent, essentially a return to the previous four-year average.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

His Flying D Ranch, southwest of Bozeman, still runs roughly 4,500 of them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

To the southwest of that little crater is a gentle slope into Schiaparelli Basin.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Tony Roach, Southwest’s chief customer and brand officer, said Southwest debated names at length but kept it simple because that’s what frequent travelers know best.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Southwest will now have silver, gold and platinum status.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

“We’re not trying to become those carriers at all. But if that is what consumers want, then Southwest Airlines will not be left out.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Wide swaths of the Southwest were deluged Sunday as the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel weakened and moved inland, but coastal communities already battered by high surf emerged with less damage than some officials feared.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

The Southwest kept a grasp but a slipping grasp on localness.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

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