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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

But in rural Kagoshima, in Japan's southwest, it enabled Diane Tincher to buy a large three-bedroom house for about half of what would have otherwise been the asking price.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

The bank notes that Audi’s Neckarsulm plant in southwest Germany is one of four German Volkswagen plants facing possible closure after 2030.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

The towns, around 20 miles southwest of Paris, are lower-income areas with housing projects, mosques and large immigrant and Muslim populations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 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

He did not need a compass to tell him where southwest was.

From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

Berlant was a collector of both ancient Southwest pottery and Paleolithic stone objects.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

United, American, Southwest and even Frontier are all in, each trying to get it on the most planes the fastest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

The mystery resurfaced during the 1990s, when people in Yunnan, Southwest China, reported similar hallucinations after eating bolete mushrooms.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026

In the current fourth quarter, Southwest expects adjusted earnings per share to be 55 cents to 80 cents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

Yes, she said, he had been transferred somewhere in the Southwest United States.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin

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