Des Moines

American  

[duh moin] / də ˈmɔɪn /

noun

1. a city in and the capital of Iowa, in the central part, on the Des Moines River.

2. a river flowing SE from SW Minnesota through Iowa to the Mississippi River. About 530 miles (850 km) long.

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Des Moines British  

/ ˈmɔɪnz, də ˈmɔɪn /

noun

1. a city in S central Iowa: state capital. Pop: 196 093 (2003 est)

2. a river in the N central US, rising in SW Minnesota and flowing southeast to join the Mississippi. Length: 861 km (535 miles)

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Des Moines Cultural  

1. Capital of Iowa and largest city in the state.

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Other Word Forms

• Des Moinesian
  noun

Example Sentences

“There is still a digital divide,” Stier said of his community, roughly 40 miles north of Des Moines.

From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026

Marzan was assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines — a unit tasked with supplying troops with food, fuel, ammunition and equipment — and deployed to Kuwait to support the war effort.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2026

Coady and the three other reservists assigned to a Des Moines-based unit were killed in Kuwait comes about 11 weeks after two young Iowa National Guard members died in Syria, including one from Des Moines.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

In Des Moines, Iowa, Axios reporter Linh Ta used to attend three-hour city budget meetings.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

At every opportunity she took Jim and his siblings to Des Moines and Chicago so they would know that the world was larger than it seemed from Muscatine.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French