Somme
Americannoun
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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.
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a department in N France. 2,424 sq. mi. (6,280 sq. km). Amiens.
noun
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a department of N France, in Picardy region. Capital: Amiens. Pop: 557 061 (2003 est). Area: 6277 sq km (2448 sq miles)
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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)
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.
On July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, there were 70,000 casualties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Given our own tinderbox of a world—in the face of the Somme, in the face of millions killed—the highest morality has nothing to do with domestic scandals and everything to do with preventing great-power war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
It was like the Battle of the Somme, with cowboy hats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
He died age 34 at the Battle of the Somme, six months after joining the Army.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2025
Like Verdun, the Somme quickly became a war of attrition in which each side tried to wear down the other.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
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.
