: an English village having a periodic fair or market
2
: a particular town or city under consideration
the circus came to town
3
: the city or urban life as contrasted with the country
4
a
: the inhabitants of a city or town
practically the whole town turned out for the parade
b
: the townspeople of a college or university town as distinct from the academic community
relations between town and gown
5
: a New England territorial and political unit usually containing under a single town government both rural areas and urban areas not having their own charter of incorporation
also: a New England community governed by a town meeting
6
dialectal, England: a cluster or aggregation of houses recognized as a distinct place with a place-name : hamlet
7
: a group of prairie dog burrows
townadjective
Phrases
on the town
: in usually carefree pursuit of entertainment or amusement (such as city nightlife) especially as a relief from routine
the town of Jackson, Florida The nearest shopping mall is two towns away. The town plans to increase property taxes. We're heading to town later on.
Recent Examples on the WebIn this Utah mountain town, a higher percentage of residents work remotely than in most cities across the country, a new analysis shows. Leto Sapunar, The Salt Lake Tribune, 9 Sep. 2022 The outdoor project is a series of sixteen flags, which hang down a main road in town, toward the lake. Rica Cerbarano, Vogue, 9 Sep. 2022 One place with a lot of work ahead is Buckhorn School, which teaches nearly 350 K-12 students in this small town and took almost 8 feet of water. Phil Mccausland, NBC News, 31 Aug. 2022 On a dazzling Sunday morning, this small town tucked into a glacial valley begins to stir. Sara Miller Llana, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 Aug. 2022 The best time to visit this mountain town is after the Fourth of July, according to Christine Lugo-Yergensen. Kristin Scharkey, Sunset Magazine, 29 Aug. 2022 Few cruise ships stop in this town of just 550 residents at the tip of Kupreanof Island in Frederick Sound. Dan Fellner, The Arizona Republic, 26 Aug. 2022 Randal builds a lean-to version of Quick Stop, like a bodega-shanty version, and becomes the unofficial mayor of this town. Clark Collis, EW.com, 26 Aug. 2022 This mountain town is outdoorsy yet luxe, and its location near the middle of the country means that everyone on your bicoastal guest list gets a fair shake. Sara Clemence, WSJ, 26 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Old English tūn enclosure, village, town; akin to Old High German zūn enclosure, Old Irish dún fortress
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 6
Time Traveler
The first known use of town was before the 12th century
1place with many streets and buildings城鎮ADJECTIVE | VERB + TOWN | TOWN + VERB | TOWN + NOUN | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤big, large, major大城鎮▸➤little, small, tiny (especially NAmE) 小城鎮▸➤nearby, neighbouring/neighboring, surrounding附近的城鎮▸➤ancient, historic, medieval, old古鎮;中世紀的城鎮;古老的城鎮▸➤new新城鎮◇It was built as a new town in the 1960s. (BrE) 這是在 20 世紀 60 年代建立的新城鎮。➤company, factory, farm, industrial, mill, mining公司/工廠/農場/工業/採礦小鎮◇a 19th-century mill town that used to produce cotton19 世紀生產棉製品的工業小鎮➤busy繁忙的城鎮◇a busy market town繁忙的集鎮➤boom, thriving繁榮的城鎮◇Rio was a boom town and trade was thriving.里約熱內盧是一個繁榮的城市,貿易蓬勃發展。◇a thriving mining town繁榮的採礦小鎮➤dusty, sleepy塵土飛揚的/死氣沉沉的小鎮◇the dusty border town of Eagle Pass, Texas伊格爾帕斯,得克薩斯州一個塵土飛揚的邊境小鎮◇a sleepy provincial town in southern France法國南部一個冷清的小鎮➤remote偏僻的小鎮▸➤country, provincial, rural鄉間小鎮;首都以外的城鎮▸➤county (BrE) 郡首府◇Exeter, the county town of Devon埃克賽特,德文郡首府➤home, native家鄉小鎮◇She has gone back to live in her home town.她已經回到她的故鄉去生活了。➤border, frontier邊境城鎮➤mountain, prairie (especially NAmE) 山區/草原小鎮▸➤beach, coastal, seaside (especially BrE) 海灘/沿海/海濱城鎮◇the sun-drenched beach towns of Southern California沐浴着陽光的南加州海灘小鎮➤holiday, resort度假城;度假勝地▸➤cathedral, college, market, university (especially BrE) 教區總教堂所在地;學院城;貿易集鎮;大學城▸➤dormitory, satellite郊外住宅區;衞星城▸➤fortified設防的城鎮◇Kitzbühel is an ancient fortified town.基茨比厄爾是一個築有要塞的古鎮。➤shanty貧民窟▸➤ghost鬼城;被廢棄的城鎮◇It's been a ghost town since the gold rush ended.淘金熱結束後,這個城市就被廢棄了。➤twin (BrE) 姊妹城◇Darlington's twin town of Amiens達靈頓的姊妹城,亞眠城VERB + TOWN➤build, found建立城鎮▸➤live in生活在城鎮◇How many people live in the town?有多少人生活在城裏?➤get out of, leave, move out of, skip (informal, especially NAmE) 離開城鎮;搬離城鎮◇He left town yesterday for a conference in Cape Town.他昨天離城去開普敦出席一個會議。◇They wanted to move out of town and start a new life in the country.他們想搬離城市去鄉村開始新的生活。➤surround環繞鎮子◇the rolling hills that surround the town環繞着鎮子的連綿起伏的丘陵TOWN + VERB➤flourish, grow城鎮繁榮/發展TOWN + NOUN➤centre (BrE) 城市中心▸➤hall, square, walls市政廳;市政廣場;城牆▸➤council(尤指英國的)鎮委員會➤meeting市民大會▸➤life城鎮生活▸➤planning城鎮規劃PREPOSITION➤in town在城裏◇They'll be back in town tomorrow.他們將於明天返城。➤out of town不在城裏◇I was out of town last week.上星期我去外地了。◇an out-of-town superstore市區外的大型商場➤outside (the) town在城外◇a lake just outside the town城外的湖PHRASES➤the centre/center of (the) town, the middle of (the) town市鎮中心➤the edge of (the) town, the outskirts of (the) town市鎮邊緣/郊區▸➤from town to town從一個城鎮到另一個城鎮◇I spent years moving from town to town.多年來,我從一個鎮子搬到另一個鎮子。town
noun²
2main part of a town, with the shops/stores, etc.商铺林立的主城區VERB + TOWN | PREPOSITIONVERB + TOWN➤go into, hit (informal) 到市中心去◇I'm going into town-can I get you anything?我要到市中心去 - 你要帶點兒什麼嗎?◇Millie hit the town, looking for excitement.米莉來到鎮上尋求刺激。PREPOSITION➤in town在市中心◇Dad's in town shopping.爸爸在市中心購物。