Tennessee

American  

[ten-uh-see] / ˌtɛn əˈsi /

noun

1. a state in the southeastern United States. 42,246 sq. mi. (109,415 sq. km). Nashville. TN (for use with zip code), Tenn.

2. a river flowing from eastern Tennessee through northern Alabama, western Tennessee, and southwestern Kentucky into the Ohio near Paducah. 652 miles (1,050 km) long.

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Tennessee British  

/ ˌtɛnɪˈsiː /

noun

1. Abbreviation: Tenn.   TN.  a state of the E central US: consists of a plain in the west, rising to the Appalachians and the Cumberland Plateau in the east. Capital: Nashville. Pop: 5 841 748 (2003 est). Area: 109 412 sq km (42 244 sq miles)

2. a river in the E central US, flowing southwest from E Tennessee into N Alabama, then west and north to the Ohio River at Paducah: the longest tributary of the Ohio; includes a series of dams and reservoirs under the Tennessee Valley Authority. Length: 1049 km (652 miles)

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Tennessee Cultural  

1. State in the south-central United States bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north; North Carolina to the east; Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south; and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. Its capital is Nashville, and its largest city is Memphis.

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One of the Confederate states during the Civil War.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tennessee

The singer emerged from a hardscrabble Tennessee childhood to become a multiplatinum recording artist, Hollywood star and head of her own entertainment empire.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Her refusal to de-emphasize her Tennessee accent or downplay her assets endeared her to a wide audience, along with her unsinkable pride in her country roots.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026

Instead, she invested the money in a black neighbourhood in Nashville, Tennessee, saying she thought it was an apt way to honour Houston's legacy.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Councilmember Charles Allen said he was visiting family in east Tennessee more than decade ago when his 2-year-old niece went tottering off toward the mailbox.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

I thought about Bridget Brown, who flew to Tennessee and then had to turn around and go home.

From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin