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

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

From Barron's ● May 21, 2026

On Saturday Iran also struck the town of Dimona in Israel's Negev desert, an area linked to Israel's undeclared nuclear programme.

From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2026

Prof. Debra Toiber and her research team at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have now uncovered a clear biological explanation.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 15, 2026

Now, Israeli authorities see the Negev as an enormous opportunity for large-scale afforestation.

From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2024

Adrienne was always friendly with the Palestinian workers, Carmel said, and with the Bedouin and Palestinian families whose babies she delivered while working at a hospital in the Negev desert.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2024

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