local

American  

[loh-kuhl] / ˈloʊ kəl /

adjective

1. pertaining to or characterized by place or position in space; spatial.

2. pertaining to, characteristic of, or restricted to a particular place or particular places.

   a local custom.

3. pertaining to a city, town, or small district rather than an entire state or country.

   local transportation.

4. stopping at most or all stations.

   a local train.

5. pertaining to or affecting a particular part or particular parts, as of a physical system or organism.

   a local disease.

6. Medicine/Medical. (of anesthesia or an anesthetic) affecting only a particular part or area of the body, without concomitant loss of consciousness, as distinguished from general anesthesia.

---

noun

• locals
  plural

1. a local train, bus, etc.

2. a newspaper item of local interest.

3. a local branch of a union, fraternity, etc.

4. a local anesthetic.

5. Often locals.

   1. a local person or resident.

      primarily of interest to locals.

   2. a local athletic team.

      the locals versus the state champions.

6. stamp.

7. British Informal. a neighborhood pub.

verb (used without object)

1. Informal. to travel by or take a local train or the like.

local British  

/ ˈləʊkəl /

adjective

1. characteristic of or associated with a particular locality or area

2. of, concerned with, or relating to a particular place or point in space

3. med of, affecting, or confined to a limited area or part Compare general systemic

4. (of a train, bus, etc) stopping at all stations or stops

---

noun

1. a train, bus, etc, that stops at all stations or stops

2. an inhabitant of a specified locality

3. informal a pub close to one's home or place of work

4. med short for local anaesthetic

5. an item of local interest in a newspaper

6. a local or regional branch of an association

7. a telephone extension

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• localness
  noun
• interlocal
  adjective
• nonlocal
  adjective
• superlocal
  adjective
• unlocal
  adjective
• interlocally
  adverb
• nonlocally
  adverb
• superlocally
  adverb
• unlocally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• locals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of local

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Late Latin word locālis. See locus, -al ¹

Explanation

The adjective local describes something related a specific place. The potholes on a certain street in Pringle, Pennsylvania, might merit a story in the local newspaper. Locate, location, locale — they all look and sound like local thanks to the Latin root locus, which means "place." Something that's local is limited to a specific place, like a particular neighborhood or city. Local also can describe places that aren't, well, places — they're more like areas. For example, a dentist might administer a local anesthetic to numb your mouth when filling a cavity. That means the anesthetic acts only on a specific area of the body.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

local locals

A day later, he ordered India's Tata Chemicals to leave the country, saying the company had not provided sufficient benefits to the local Maasai community in Kajiado county.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Ten of them survived and were taken to the local hospital, the statement said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026

Companies have faced increasing local pushback to data-center construction.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 12, 2026

Drolma grew up in Gyalthang, or Zhongdian in Chinese, as her hometown was known before local officials rebranded it Shangri-La in 2001 to lure tourists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

The midday post had brought an advertisement promoting the skills of a local chimney sweep.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

She shares this with Hannah Neeleman, the Ballerina Farm influencer who recently opened a boutique in Midway, Utah, that is driving locals up the wall.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

The flood of tourists has pushed the island’s infrastructure to its limit, leading to traffic jams, strained water resources and a severe shortage of affordable housing for locals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

While many locals agree with the council's actions, others feel the pigeons were being unfairly demonised.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Though hugely popular with visitors, short-term lodgings are blamed by residents in many popular travel destinations for depriving locals of apartments for long-term rent and pushing up prices.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

No one noticed the ghost, but the locals looked askance at Nico.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

• provincial
• regional