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Iowa

American  
[ahy-uh-wuh, ahy-uh-wey] / ˈaɪ ə wə, ˈaɪ əˌweɪ /

noun

plural

Iowas,

plural

Iowa
  1. a state in the central United States: a part of the Midwest. 56,290 sq. mi. (145,790 sq. km). Des Moines. IA (approved esp. for use with zip code), Ia., Io.

  2. a river flowing southeast from northern Iowa to the Mississippi River. 291 miles (470 km) long.

  3. a member of an American Indian people originally of Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota but now of Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas.

  4. the Siouan language spoken by the Iowa Indians.


Iowa British  
/ ˈaɪəʊə /

noun

  1. Abbreviation: Ia..   IA.  a state of the N central US, in the Midwest: consists of rolling plains crossed by many rivers, with the Missouri forming the western border and the Mississippi the eastern. Capital: Des Moines. Pop: 2 944 062 (2003 est). Area: 144 887 sq km (55 941 sq miles)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Iowa Cultural  
  1. State in the midwestern United States bordered by Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Missouri to the south, and Nebraska and South Dakota to the west. Its capital and largest city is Des Moines.


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.

After her death, the author plans to donate her diaries to one such repository in Iowa.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Joni Ernst of Iowa, all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have expressed private concerns over George’s firing, a second U.S. official said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2026

She came to Iowa for Thanksgiving in 2022.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

Iowa, which flamed out to No. 10 seed Virginia in the second round last week, could have simply been less prepared than other tournament teams.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

In the Iowa gambling experiment, the gamblers started avoiding the dangerous red decks long before they were actually aware that they were avoiding them.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell