Yakima

American  

[yak-uh-muh] / ˈjæk əˌmə /

noun

• Yakimas,
  plural
• Yakima
  plural

1. a city in southern Washington State.

2. a river in south central Washington State. 203 miles (327 kilometers) long.

3. former name of the Yakama and their language (often used attributively).

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Yakima
  plural
• Yakimas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Yakima

see origin at Yakama ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Yakima Yakimas

In September 2023, they helped federal investigators in Yakima, Wash., locate two bodies, said Tim Perry, a former federal prosecutor and top Department of Homeland Security official.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026

In my case I will be 32 years old, fly fishing the Yakima River as the sun sets—knowing that my wife and 5-year-old child are busy in my streamside home preparing my birthday dinner.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Washington State, was one of the 216 who supported the USCCB's Special Message.

From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2025

He was raised in Yakima, Wash., a two-hour drive from Seattle, and played collegiately at Eastern Washington.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025

For three days, Yakima was paralyzed and cut off from the world, its airport closed, its approach roads impassable.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

The Nez Percés, thanks to Lawyer’s fidelity, were still friendly, and with these two powerful tribes arrayed against the Yakimas, there was still hope of holding the Columbia Valley.

From The Columbia River Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce by William Denison Lyman

Anderson packed for the Club in its tour of Tahoma last year, with three or four Yakimas and their horses.

From The Discards by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter

Later on, the Yakimas were driven back by the whites; so that there have been three conquests of the lower Willamette Valley since the fall of the ancient race,—two Indian conquests before the white.

From The Bridge of the Gods A Romance of Indian Oregon. 19th Edition. by Frederic Homer Balch

As already noted, Garnett crushed the Yakimas at one blow, and Wright a little later repeated Steptoe’s march to Spokane, but did not repeat his retreat.

From The Columbia River Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce by William Denison Lyman

The Yakima Indian Reservation has timber valued at more than three million dollars, and yet the Yakimas have no way of making domestic or commercial use of this wealth.

From The Discards by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter