Selma
Americannoun
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a city in central Alabama, on the Alabama River.
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a town in central California.
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a female given name.
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In 1965, during the civil rights movement, Selma was the center of a registration drive for black voters, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.
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.
Protesters crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma before continuing events in Montgomery, where speakers framed the current political moment as a continuation, not a conclusion of the civil rights movement.
From Salon • May 17, 2026
"Lyon raised their levels today. They came out really strong. They had Selma Bacha and Melchie Dumornay back in the side, who are world class players," Arsenal captain Kim Little told BBC Two.
From BBC • May 2, 2026
In Selma: For the movie “Selma,” filmmakers returned to the Edmund Pettus Bridge to re-create the scene where state troopers clashed with nearly 600 voting-rights marchers in 1965, an event known as Bloody Sunday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026
The epilogue is particularly powerful, opening with Crenshaw visiting Selma, Ala., in 2025 for the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026
In the sixties and seventies, during the social upheaval of freedom rides and cafeteria sit-ins and boycotts in Birmingham and marches on Selma, Odessa stood locked in time.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
