locally
Americanadverb
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in a particular place, area, location, etc.
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with regard to place.
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in a local area; nearby.
Not much interest is taken in the chess tournament locally.
adverb
Etymology
Origin of locally
First recorded in 1400–50, locally is from the late Middle English word localliche. See local, -ly
Explanation
Things that happen locally occur close to a specific place — near your town, for example. Locally grown tomatoes are picked on nearby farms and sold at your neighborhood market. If you shop locally, you support your neighbors' businesses whenever possible, buying things that are made and sold in your city or state. If there's been an increase in population locally, it means the total number of people living in your immediate area has gone up. This adverb can also describe things that occur only in one restricted part of the body: "Apply the ointment locally to the itchy spots."
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.
Locally based Aleson Shipping Lines owned both ships.
From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026
Locally, he said, homelessness was the issue they identified as the most intractable.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2026
Locally pioneered electric cars zip past deserted apartment blocks.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
Locally nicknamed the "Euston puddle", the large body of water forms following rainfall at the junction of Upper Woburn Place and Euston Road.
From BBC • Nov. 14, 2025
Locally, a good way to tell how the work is going is to listen in the corridors.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
