Selma
Americannoun
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a city in central Alabama, on the Alabama River.
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a town in central California.
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a female given name.
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In 1965, during the civil rights movement, Selma was the center of a registration drive for black voters, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.
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.
Protesters crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma before continuing events in Montgomery, where speakers framed the current political moment as a continuation, not a conclusion of the civil rights movement.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
King didn’t march because Selma was unique; he marched because it was predictable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
But investors shouldn’t read too much into October’s pickup in sales, Selma Hepp, the chief economist at real estate technology provider Cotality, wrote in Wednesday commentary.
From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025
The last time it happened was in 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson federalized the Alabama National Guard to protect civil rights marchers marching from Selma to Montgomery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2025
On Friday, March 5, two days before the planned march from Selma to Montgomery, King met with President Johnson at the White House.
From "Because They Marched" by Russell Freedman
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.
