Negev

American

[neg-ev] / ˈnɛg ɛv /

Also Negeb

noun

a partially reclaimed desert region and district in S Israel, bordering on the Sinai Peninsula. 4,700 sq. mi. (12,173 sq. km). Beersheba.

Negev British

/ ˈnɛɡɛb, ˈnɛɡɛv /

noun

the S part of Israel, on the Gulf of Aqaba: a triangular-shaped semidesert region, with large areas under irrigation; scene of fighting between Israeli and Egyptian forces in 1948. Chief town: Beersheba. Area: 12 820 sq km (4950 sq miles)

"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

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Negev

In the south, most Arabs are Bedouins, mainly Sunni Muslims who descended from nomadic clans that roamed the Negev Desert herding camels and sheep.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

Adalah said they had been held at Israel's Ktziot prison, in the Negev Desert near Gaza.

From Barron's ● May 21, 2026

Prof. Alon Monsonego of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev found that T helper lymphocytes, which are immune cells involved in regulating the body's defenses, shift in function as people grow older.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 16, 2025

I stood on the hill and looked out toward the edge of the Negev desert, imagining the villagers watching an army come into view.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2025

Mr Elkadi, a grandfather of one, is from a Bedouin village in the Rahat area of the Negev desert.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2024

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