Gretna Green

American  

noun

1. a village in S Scotland, near the English border, to which many English couples formerly eloped to be married.

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Gretna Green British  

/ ˈɡrɛtnə /

noun

1. a village in S Scotland, in Dumfries and Galloway on the border with England: famous smithy where eloping couples were married by the blacksmith from 1754 until 1940, when such marriages became illegal. Pop: 2705 (2001)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Gretna Green

Our last frontier was at Gretna Green on our drive to Edinburgh.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 15, 2016

Brentwood Farmers Market: Every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Brentwood farmers market takes over Gretna Green Way.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2015

Caroline Flint and Stephen Twigg, sitting next to each other, joked they were running off to Gretna Green to elope.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 11, 2014

He is the chairman of Gretna Green Ltd - a wedding empire in the town, including a hotel, a museum, a gift shop, food hall and even a "courtship maze".

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2014

As the nearest village on the Scottish side, Gretna Green was notorious as the resort of eloping couples, who had failed to obtain the consent of parents or guardians to their union.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various