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• southwest
  southwest

  noun

  the point or direction midway between south and west. SW
• Southwest
  Southwest

  noun

  the southwestern part of Britain, esp Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset

southwest

American  

[south-west, sou-west] / ˌsaʊθˈwɛst, ˌsaʊˈwɛst /

noun

1. the point or direction midway between south and west. SW

2. a region in this direction.

3. the Southwest, the southwest region of the United States.

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adjective

1. lying toward, situated in, or directed toward the southwest.

2. coming from the southwest, as a wind.

adverb

1. in the direction midway between south and west.

southwest ¹ British  

/ ˌsaʊˈwɛst, ˌsaʊθˈwɛst /

noun

1. the point of the compass or the direction midway between west and south, 225° clockwise from north

2. any area lying in or towards this direction

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adjective

1. (sometimes capital) of or denoting the southwestern part of a specified country, area, etc

   southwest Italy

2. situated in or towards the southwest

3. (esp of the wind) from the southwest

adverb

1. in, to, towards, or (esp of the wind) from the southwest

Southwest ² British  

/ ˌsaʊθˈwɛst /

noun

1. the southwestern part of Britain, esp Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset

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Other Word Forms

• southwestern
  adjective
• southwesternmost
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of southwest

before 900; Middle English; Old English sūthwest. See south, west

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

southwest Southwest

Most of the equipment Berg uses on his 1,800-acre farm in southwest Iowa is from Deere, but he relies on Iowa-based Ag Leader Technology for his farm’s data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

The renewed fighting in southwest Yemen has forced nearly 20,000 people to flee their homes, according to the International Organization for Migration.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

Spanish Maritime Rescue teams located the vessel some 65 nautical miles southwest of Gran Canaria's coastal town of Arguineguín on Wednesday and found 44 survivors, with five dead bodies also on board.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

By Sunday, Marie is expected to be about 775 miles southwest of San Diego.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Twenty-four-year-old Katherine lived in Marion, Virginia, a speck of a town in the state’s rural southwest.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, directs the mission via Principal Investigator Dr. Alan Stern, who leads the science team, payload operations, and science planning.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

JPMorgan brings expertise from its own network of upscale Chase Sapphire airport lounges, and Southwest executives said the experience in its lounges will be comparable, with some Southwest flair.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Southwest Airlines LUV 2.39%increase; green up pointing triangle is jumping into the airport lounge fray.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Southwest isn’t the only carrier that decided it can no longer afford to sit out the building boom: JetBlue Airways opened up two new lounges in the past year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

However, it is not yet known whether Ethiopians were cultivating these local plants before or only after the arrival of the Southwest Asian package.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond