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 lawsuit alleges that xAI’s efforts to power its data centers in Tennessee and Mississippi are creating a health risk for local residents.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

She said her focus was following in the footsteps of Tennessee Williams and the other greats of American modernism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

Musk is spending heavily to build data centers in the Memphis area—both in Tennessee and nearby Mississippi—for xAI and his Grok chatbot.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

In Utah, the governor has signed two related bills into law, and in Tennessee and Indiana, bills are awaiting their governors’ signature.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2026

Sheriff Jackson said, “Calm down, son. I understand. I ain’t looking to do nothing to stab no one in the heart; I don’t even own a Tennessee toothpick.”

From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis