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.

---

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)

---

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.

---

Discover More

One of the Confederate states during the Civil War.

Example Sentences

Richard Briggs, a state senator from Tennessee, is also fighting to keep his seat.

From Salon • Jun. 8, 2026

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

He recently has been living and helping develop high school and youth players in Tennessee.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026

Located in Memphis, Tennessee, the facility had been underutilized by his xAI lab, the creator of the Grok chatbot.

From Barron's • Jun. 1, 2026

There’s a ranch in Tennessee called Sweet Dreams Farm that takes in sick and unadoptable animals.

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty