Tennessee

American  

[ten-uh-see] / ˌtɛn əˈsi /

noun

1. a state in the southeastern United States. 42,246 sq. mi. (109,415 sq. km). Nashville. TN (for use with zip code), Tenn.

2. a river flowing from eastern Tennessee through northern Alabama, western Tennessee, and southwestern Kentucky into the Ohio near Paducah. 652 miles (1,050 km) long.

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Tennessee British  

/ ˌtɛnɪˈsiː /

noun

1. Abbreviation: Tenn.   TN.  a state of the E central US: consists of a plain in the west, rising to the Appalachians and the Cumberland Plateau in the east. Capital: Nashville. Pop: 5 841 748 (2003 est). Area: 109 412 sq km (42 244 sq miles)

2. a river in the E central US, flowing southwest from E Tennessee into N Alabama, then west and north to the Ohio River at Paducah: the longest tributary of the Ohio; includes a series of dams and reservoirs under the Tennessee Valley Authority. Length: 1049 km (652 miles)

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Tennessee Cultural  

1. State in the south-central United States bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north; North Carolina to the east; Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south; and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. Its capital is Nashville, and its largest city is Memphis.

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Discover More

One of the Confederate states during the Civil War.

Example Sentences

The largest wave so far, according to Guinness World Records, was at a Nascar racing event in the American state of Tennessee in 2008, when 157,574 people joined a wave that swept around the stadium.

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026

“I think Jared picked Tennessee because he wants to be with his brother.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 7, 2026

Few soccer fans had “Spain in Chattanooga” on their bingo cards, but here we are: La Roja has volunteered to set up in Tennessee for the month.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026

The deal resembles one struck with AI giant Anthropic, in which SpaceX leased compute capacity at its Colossus data centers in Memphis, Tennessee for $1.25 billion a month.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

I found another four-leaf clover and a penny in a parking lot, and one time we drove across the state line into Tennessee, which is good for wishing if you clap three times first.

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor