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Sumter

American  
[suhm-ter, suhmp-] / ˈsʌm tər, ˈsʌmp- /

noun

  1. a city in central South Carolina.

  2. Fort Sumter.

Sumter British  
/ ˈsʌmtə /

noun

  1. See Fort Sumter

"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

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.

The attack on Fort Sumter in 1861 enraged him.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

Since Smuss spoke German, he was taken outside to work in a factory repairing and repainting helmets, he recounted in a video recorded for the Sumter Museum in the US in 2022.

From BBC • Oct. 24, 2025

Passover begins this year on April 12, the 164th anniversary of the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, which ignited the American Civil War.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2025

Predictably, Bezos' defense failed more miserably than the Union Army at Fort Sumter in 1861.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2024

On April 12, 1861, Confederate cannons in Charleston, South Carolina, fired on the U.S. garrison at Fort Sumter in the harbor.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

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.