My Lai

American

[mee lahy] / ˈmi ˈlaɪ /

noun

a hamlet in S Vietnam: U.S. forces' massacre of South Vietnamese civilians 1968.

My Lai British

/ ˈmaɪ ˈlaɪ, ˈmiː /

noun

a village in S Vietnam where in 1968 US troops massacred over 400 civilians

"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

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.

“There had to be more,” Mr. Hersh says, specifically about My Lai.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025

Medina told his dispirited troops that the next morning they’d be storming My Lai, where intelligence officials had located several hundred members of the crack Viet Cong 48th Local Force Battalion.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 30, 2024

A former US officer who was the only person to be convicted in connection with the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War has died, according to reports.

From BBC • Jul. 30, 2024

Mr. Hersh, best known for breaking the story of the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, cited a single unnamed source for his report on the Nord Stream explosions.

From Washington Times • Feb. 9, 2023

Upon returning to his base, Thompson immediately reported the events taking place at My Lai.

From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023