Smithsonian Institution

[ smith-soh-nee-uhn ]

/ smɪθˈsoʊ ni ən /

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noun

an institution in Washington, D.C., founded 1846 with a grant left by James Smithson, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge: U.S. national museum and repository.

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Words nearby Smithsonian Institution

Smithfield, Smithfield ham, Smith Island, Smith, Joseph, Smithson, Smithsonian Institution, smithsonite, Smithtown, smithy, smitten, Smitty

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Smithsonian Institution in a sentence

His costumes were exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution and St. Louis Museum of Art, among other high-end venues.
Mardi Gras Indian Chief Larry Bannock’s Final Ride|Jason Berry|May 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Smithsonian Institution scientist Bill Eberhard, founding father of the whole field, favors the internal courtship idea.
Oh, if These Penises and Vaginas Could Talk: Genitalia as Tools, Toys, and Weapons|Menno Schilthuizen|May 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The completely repaired frame of the large machine is now stored in one of the workshops at the Smithsonian Institution.
Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II|S. P. (Samuel Pierpont) Langley and Charles M. (Charles Matthews) Manly
Then to Washington, where he delivered four lectures at the Smithsonian Institution.
Makers of British Botany; a collection of biographies by living botanists|Various

Two reproduction plates have been brought to the Smithsonian Institution for examination.
White House China of the Lincoln Administration in the Museum of History and Technology|Margaret Brown Klapthor
As the Smithsonian Institution has so many exchanges, these reports are best secured from the quota allowed to Congressmen.
Government Documents in Small Libraries|Charles Wells Reeder
The little professor, who was up in the north country for the Smithsonian Institution, had spent a third of his life among dogs.
Kazan|James Oliver Curwood

British Dictionary definitions for Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

/ (smɪθˈsəʊnɪən) /

noun

a national museum and institution in Washington, D.C., founded in 1846 from a bequest by James Smithson, primarily concerned with ethnology, zoology, and astrophysics

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

Cultural definitions for Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

[ (smith-soh-nee-uhn) ]

A group of over a dozen museums and research and publication facilities, such as the National Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of History and Technology, the National Zoo, and the National Gallery of Art. Many of the Smithsonian's buildings are on the Washington Mall. The institution is named after James Smithson, an Englishman whose bequest enabled its founding in the nineteenth century.