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Woodstock

American  
[wood-stok] / ˈwʊdˌstɒk /

noun

  1. a town in northeastern Illinois.

  2. a rock music festival held in August of 1969 in Bethel, N.Y., a town near Woodstock, N.Y.


Woodstock British  
/ ˈwʊdstɒk /

noun

  1. a town in New York State, the site of a large rock festival in August 1969. Pop: 6253 (2003 est)

"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

Woodstock Cultural  
  1. A village in New York state, where some 400,000 young people assembled in 1969 for a rock music festival.


Discover More

The size of the crowd and the prevalence of hippie dress and customs led to use of the term Woodstock nation to indicate the youth counterculture of the late 1960s.

The term Woodstock is now used loosely to mean a large, impromptu gathering.

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.

My dad had gone to Woodstock and I went to…Dave Matthews concerts?

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

His ancestral family home is Blenheim Palace in Woodstock – Sir Winston's birthplace - which is owned and managed by Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation.

From BBC • Dec. 17, 2025

“Our Woodstock Organic Banana Water stands out for its great taste and natural hydration,” Bruemmer says, “delivering 765mg of electrolytes — similar to many sports drinks — without any artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025

EDF is on the hook to roll out an aquatic Woodstock requiring miles of cables linking 288 underwater speakers blaring sounds louder than a jumbo jet 24 hours a day for 60 years.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

The student laughs, knowing that Volpe would never have been anywhere near the mud and chaos of Woodstock.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove