nationwide
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of nationwide
Explanation
Something nationwide refers to or covers the whole country. A nationwide shortage of wheat would affect everyone in every single state. A gossipy news story about a presidential candidate might cause a nationwide scandal, if everyone in the whole country were talking about it. And if a drought seemed to be spreading nationwide, farmers from Maine to California would start to worry about that year's crops. Nationwide combines nation, from the Latin nationem, "origin" or "race of people," and wide, from its "extending through the whole of" meaning.
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.
"We hope that by putting this extraordinary bird into millions of pockets and purses, we can spark a nationwide conversation about a species at real risk of vanishing from Britain forever."
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
For reference, as of this March, there were 953 Cane’s locations nationwide, as opposed to 2,361 Wingstop locations and 3,413 Chick-fil-A locations.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Democracy Forward has asked people to take one civic-minded action per day leading up to the election, while Indivisible, a progressive grassroots organization, is training volunteers nationwide to mount public push-back to any interference.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
The planning exercise in Kaliningrad is just one of many being carried out nationwide, said the officials, in case the call is made.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
In 2009 the NIH invested $13.5 million to develop a bank for the samples taken from newborns nationwide.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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.
