Timbuktu

[ tim-buhk-too, tim-buhk-too ]

noun

1. a town in central Mali, W Africa, near the Niger River. French Tombouctou.
2. any faraway place.

Timbuktu

/ ˌtɪmbʌkˈtuː /

noun

1. a town in central Mali, on the River Niger: terminus of a trans-Saharan caravan route; a great Muslim centre (14th–16th centuries). Pop: 31 973 (1998) French nameTombouctou
2. any distant or outlandish place

   from here to Timbuktu

Timbuktu

¹

1. A remote town in western Africa . Figuratively, it is a faraway and unknown place.

Timbuktu

²

1. City in central Mali , in western Africa , near the Niger River.

Notes

By the fourteenth century, it was famous for its gold trade.

Example Sentences

What I particularly liked about that story was that it started in Timbuktu —the jumping-off place was Timbuktu.

From Outside Online

Some of the images on the cards Paoletta shot himself, others were gifted by professional photographers, and some are public-domain historical pictures of Timbuktu.

From Washington Post

When there are big orders, the guides do fairly well — at least compared with other workers in Timbuktu.

From Washington Post

As Nialy explained how dire the guide industry in Timbuktu had become, the idea for their venture clicked for Paoletta.

From Washington Post

Perhaps inevitably, the women of Timbuktu were singled out for special persecution.

From The Daily Beast

Lankester said that many of his Tuareg employees have left Timbuktu, Gao, and the surrounding cities.

From The Daily Beast

Plus, Blake Gopnik on whether destroying Timbuktu's heritage is un-Islamic.

From The Daily Beast

The other half are loaded with blocks of salt on the way, for salt is in great demand at Timbuktu.

From Project Gutenberg

What lovely things one could say about England, in Timbuktu!

From Project Gutenberg

But you boys told us all in Timbuktu that there was no El Hassan.

From Project Gutenberg

There was only one way that episode in Timbuktu could have taken place.

From Project Gutenberg

Timbuktu's day lasted but two or three hundred years at most.

From Project Gutenberg