Somme

[ sawm ]

/ sɔm /

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noun

a river in N France, flowing NW to the English Channel: battles, World War I, 1916, 1918; World War II, 1944. 150 miles (241 km) long.

a department in N France. 2,424 sq. mi. (6,280 sq. km). Capital: Amiens.

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Words nearby Somme

somewheres, somewhile, somewhither, somewise, somite, Somme, sommelier, Sommerfeld, somnambulate, somnambulism, somnambulist

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Somme in a sentence

These peaks in cold marine air may have influenced major battles such as the Somme, Verdun, and the Third Battle of Ypres in 1916 and 1917.
A climate anomaly may have worsened the 1918 pandemic and WWI|Kate Baggaley|September 25, 2020|Popular-Science
Smith survived the night patrol, and met Tolkien again on the fringes of the Battle of the Somme that summer.
Why World War I Is at the Heart of ‘Lord of the Rings’|John Garth|July 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Just weeks before the Somme, British soldiers put down the rising, leaving much of the city in ruins.
Wounds of World War I Have Yet to Heal|Michael F. Bishop|June 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In The Missing of the Somme, one war, the Great War, is more directly his subject.
Geoff Dyer's 'The Missing of the Somme' Reconsidered|Louisa Thomas|November 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST

“The Missing of the Somme” is carved onto the Thiepval Memorial.
Geoff Dyer's 'The Missing of the Somme' Reconsidered|Louisa Thomas|November 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The Missing of the Somme was not merely written as a diversion from rewriting Tender is the Night.
Geoff Dyer's 'The Missing of the Somme' Reconsidered|Louisa Thomas|November 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
At the Somme we put over on the enemy the only new thing that we have been able to spring during the whole three years—the tanks.
Private Peat|Harold R. Peat
Never shall I forget my first sight of the Somme in summer-time.
An Onlooker in France 1917-1919|William Orpen
But the real terribleness of the Somme was not in the towns or on the roads.
An Onlooker in France 1917-1919|William Orpen
I shall never forget my first sight of the Somme battlefields.
An Onlooker in France 1917-1919|William Orpen
The error was rectified, but only temporarily, at the Somme.
Aviation in Peace and War|Sir Frederick Hugh Sykes

British Dictionary definitions for Somme

Somme

/ (French sɔm) /

noun

a department of N France, in Picardy region. Capital: Amiens. Pop: 557 061 (2003 est). Area: 6277 sq km (2448 sq miles)

a river in N France, rising in Aisne department and flowing west to Amiens, then northwest to the English Channel: scene of heavy fighting in World War I. Length: 245 km (152 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