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• metro
  metro

  noun

  the underground electric railway of Paris, France, Montreal, Canada, Washington, D.C., and other cities.
• metro-
  metro-

  a combining form meaning “measure,” used in the formation of compound words.

metro

¹ American  

[me-troh] / ˈmɛ troʊ /

noun

(often initial capital letter)

• metros
  plural

1. the underground electric railway of Paris, France, Montreal, Canada, Washington, D.C., and other cities.

2. subway.

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metro ² American  

[me-troh] / ˈmɛ troʊ /

adjective

1. metropolitan.

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noun

• metros
  plural

1. metropolis.

2. (often initial capital letter) the government or jurisdiction of a large city.

metro- ³ American  

1. a combining form meaning “measure,” used in the formation of compound words.

   metronome.

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metro- ⁴ American  

1. a combining form meaning “uterus,” used in the formation of compound words.

   metrorrhagia.

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metro- ⁵ American  

1. a combining form representing metropolis or metropolitan in compound words.

   metroflight; metroland; Metroliner.

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metro- ¹ British  

combining form

1. indicating the uterus

   metrorrhagia

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metro- ² British  

combining form

1. indicating a measure

   metronome

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metro ³ British  

/ ˈmɛtrəʊ, metro /

noun

1. an underground, or largely underground, railway system in certain cities, esp in Europe, such as that in Paris

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• metros
  plural

Etymology

Origin of metro¹

1900–05; < French métro, short for chemin de fer métropolitain metropolitan railroad

Origin of metro²

First recorded in 1900–05; by shortening; or independent use of metro- ³

Origin of metro-³

Combining form representing Greek métron measure

Origin of metro-⁴

Combining form representing Greek mḗtra womb

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

metro metros

Last year, the New York metro area’s tech workforce reached 394,300, surpassing the Bay Area’s 375,730, according to a report from CBRE.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida led the country, with 83.1% of views to new-construction listings originating outside the metro area.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

The median sale price of a home in the Chicago metro area in June was about $407,000, up 4.6% from a year ago, according to a report by Illinois Realtors.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Cities and towns that Amazon says its Prime Air drone delivery service will cover by the end of the year, including metro Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Syracuse, N.Y., and Boise, Idaho.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

I worked my way to the metro region section and stopped.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

These are the top five metros where for-sale listings saw the biggest increase in the number of days spent on the market, according to data provided by Realtor.com.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

These are the top five metros where for-sale listings had the highest share of price cuts, according to Zillow.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

Orlando was followed by three other Florida metros: North Port, Miami and Cape Coral.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

Regionally, providers in rural areas that heavily rely on Medicaid payments, as well as safety-net hospitals found in major metros, could also face big funding shortfalls and job cuts.

From Barron's ● Jun. 20, 2026

Similar signs of reversal have appeared in some other Midwest metros, including Dayton and Canton, in Ohio, and Racine, Wis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026

Related Words

• rail line
• railway
• subway