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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Discover More

One of the Confederate states during the Civil War.

Example Sentences

Country music legend Sheryl Crow is offloading a small slice of her extravagant Nashville estate for $1.8 million—more than a decade after adding the 2.2-acre parcel to her longtime Tennessee compound.

From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026

“The projects we incentivize have to fit this heartland, middle America approach to things,” says Tennessee deputy governor Stuart McWhorter.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

The first one went to the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally controlled utility, and Holtec, a privately held nuclear operator that’s building small reactors.

From Barron's • May 14, 2026

The states that improved reading scores — Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana — had one thing in common: They ordered schools to teach with a phonics-based approach known as the “science of reading.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026

Representative Thetus Sims of Tennessee had broken his arm and shoulder by slipping on ice several days earlier, but he refused to seek medical care until he cast his vote in favor of the amendment.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling