Yorktown

American

[yawrk-toun] / ˈyɔrkˌtaʊn /

noun

a village in SE Virginia: surrender (October 19, 1781) of Cornwallis to Washington in the American Revolution.

Yorktown British

/ ˈjɔːkˌtaʊn /

noun

a village in SE Virginia: scene of the surrender (1781) of the British under Cornwallis to the Americans under Washington at the end of the War of American Independence

"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

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.

The only thing that vaguely approached an act of lèse-majesté against the head of the House of Windsor was the attendance of Mark Collins, the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Yorktown, Texas.

From Slate • Apr. 28, 2026

Mr. Khatiri is a vice president and senior fellow at Yorktown Institute.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 1, 2026

The Thomas J. Watson Research Center sits on a sprawling campus in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., some 40 miles from Manhattan.

From Barron's • Dec. 10, 2025

He admired the Americans’ battle for independence, befriended George Washington, and came to command Continental troops at the decisive battle of Yorktown.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2025

It took nearly three hours to attach emergency controls to the engines, and the Yorktown then limped into port.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023