northwest

1 of 3

adverb

north·​west nȯrth-ˈwest How to pronounce northwest (audio)
nautical
nȯr-ˈwest How to pronounce northwest (audio)
: to, toward, or in the northwest

northwest

2 of 3

adjective

1
: coming from the northwest
a northwest wind
2
: situated toward or at the northwest
the northwest corner

northwest

3 of 3

noun

1
a
: the general direction between north and west
b
: the point midway between the north and west compass points
2
capitalized : regions or countries lying to the northwest of a specified or implied point of orientation

Examples of northwest in a Sentence

Adverb It's about 80 miles northwest of here. I headed northwest on Route 1. Adjective the northwest corner of the building Noun A mountain range is in the northwest of the country. We traveled throughout the Northwest.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adverb
Randallstown is about 15 miles northwest of Baltimore. Daniella Segura, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2024 The Aubrey Fire began Tuesday near Route 66 about seven miles northwest of Seligman and was 40% contained, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management said Wednesday. Shelby Slade, The Arizona Republic, 6 Mar. 2024 The 9,300-square-foot home, about 7 miles northwest of downtown and another five miles from the prestigious Austin Country Club, presides over nearly half an acre of gated and secured grounds—there’s even a security pavilion just outside the entry gates—with about 115 feet of shoreline. Mark David, Robb Report, 27 Feb. 2024 Located about 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles, the small town is tucked in a valley among the scenic Topatopa Mountains. Megan Wood, Travel + Leisure, 17 Feb. 2024 Sterling is located about 25 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. Faris Tanyos, CBS News, 16 Feb. 2024 The resort is about 45 miles northwest of Jackson, Wyoming. Brooke Baitinger, Idaho Statesman, 22 Feb. 2024 San Vito al Torre is about 300 miles northwest of Rome and near the Italy-Slovenia border. Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 23 Feb. 2024 Light west wind becoming northwest at 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 23 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Chambers compared the January shooting to one in 2022, where a worker was shot and killed after a man was denied entry to a downtown club, and to a 2023 shooting, where five people were injured outside of a northwest side bar. Drake Bentley, Journal Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2024 Hu-DeHart studied Latin American and Caribbean history and wrote extensively, at the beginning of her academic career, on the Yaqui, a Native tribe with roots in northwest Mexico. Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024 About half of her genes can be traced to Cameroon, Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, and other countries in Africa, while the other half can be traced to many regions of Europe, among them England, northwest Europe, Eastern Europe, Ireland, France and Spain. Daniel Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 26 Feb. 2024 Up to 20 inches of snow is forecast to fall in northwest Colorado through early Saturday morning and may cause avalanches in the mountains near Steamboat Springs. Katie Langford, The Denver Post, 15 Feb. 2024 Cole represents Area 5, which includes Hayward, Union City and northwest Fremont. East Bay Times Editorial, The Mercury News, 14 Feb. 2024 Cris Peterson and husband Gary, who own and run a fifth-generation family dairy farm in northwest Wisconsin, were among rural voters in crucial battleground farm states that helped propel Trump to victory against Hillary Clinton. Nayla Razzouk, Fortune Europe, 13 Feb. 2024 Gonzales was driving home in June 2023 when his vehicle ran over a pothole on Long Avenue in northwest Fort Worth. Emily Brindley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Feb. 2024 The city is faced with likely losing the NFL’s Bears to a site in nearby Arlington Heights, a northwest suburb, while the team has seen its attendance shrink at Guaranteed Rate Field, which opened in 1991 across 35th Street from historic Comiskey Park. Phil Rogers, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
Noun
The campground and day-use area are the only public access on Round Lake, northwest of Tawas in northern lower Michigan. Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press, 6 Mar. 2024 He was sentenced to 23 years in prison and is incarcerated at the Mohawk Correctional Facility, a state prison about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Albany. TIME, 14 Feb. 2024 Just a 40-minute drive northwest of Bologna, and I am lost in the pianura padana, a seemingly never-ending flatland of farms, vineyards, and orchards in Italy's Emilia Romagna region. Erica Firpo, Travel + Leisure, 11 Feb. 2024 In Nevada, Century Lithium is piloting a project in the Amargosa Valley, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Las Vegas. Associated Press, Quartz, 8 Feb. 2024 Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, northwest of Arvada, is a surprisingly good place to spot a large herd of elk in winter. Mindy Sink, The Denver Post, 7 Feb. 2024 Bryan, Ohio, pastor faces criminal charges This month in Ohio, a pastor filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Bryan in the state's northwest corner, after officials threatened to shut his church down for housing a handful of people in violation of zoning rules. Claire Thornton, The Enquirer, 23 Feb. 2024 Chula Vista has a new no-fence, off-leash dog park at Hilltop Park in the city’s northwest region. Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Feb. 2024 The deluge caused a house to slide off its foundation on Caribou Lane in Beverly Glen, a mountainous neighborhood northwest of Beverly Hills. Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'northwest.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of northwest was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near northwest

northwardly

northwest

North West

Cite this Entry

“Northwest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/northwest. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

northwest

1 of 3 adverb
north·​west nȯrth-ˈwest How to pronounce northwest (audio)
nautical
nȯr-ˈwest How to pronounce northwest (audio)
: to or toward the northwest

northwest

2 of 3 noun
1
: the direction between north and west
2
capitalized : the regions or countries northwest of a point that is mentioned or understood

northwest

3 of 3 adjective
1
: coming from the northwest
a northwest wind
2
: placed or lying toward or at the northwest
the northwest corner

Geographical Definition

North West

geographical name

variants or Noordwes
ˌnȯrd-ˈwes How to pronounce North West (audio)
ˌnȯrt-
province of the northern part of the Republic of South Africa bordering Botswana area 44,861 square miles (116,190 square kilometers), population 3,509,953

More from Merriam-Webster on northwest

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