INDEX:
1. a town
2. the centre of a town or city
3. the areas at the edge of a town or city
4. the town where you are from
5. the biggest or most important town in a country or area
6. relating to or in a town
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ COUNTRY
area of a town : ↑ AREA (2)
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1. a town
▷ town /taʊn/ [countable noun]
a place where a lot of people live with houses, streets, shops etc :
▪ More and more people were seeking work in the growing towns.
▪ The town is situated some 23 miles north of London.
▪ a small town in the Midwest
a seaside/industrial/market town
▪ La Coruna is a pretty seaside town on the north-western tip of Spain.
part of town
▪ Steyne Street was a narrow street in a shabby but respectable part of town.
the town of Warrington/Poitiers/Kimball etc
written
▪ A large sign announced that we were entering the town of Knock.
town and country
people who live in towns and people who live in the country
▪ deep divisions in wealth between town and country
▷ city /ˈsɪti/ [countable noun]
a big and important town that is often the centre of government for an area, has a lot of trade and industry, and is likely to contain important political, educational, or religious institutions :
▪ You should visit San Francisco. It’s a beautiful city.
▪ The major industrial cities were getting increasingly overcrowded.
a big/crowded/medieval etc city
▪ I was alone in a big city in a new country.
▪ Leeds is a thriving, vibrant, and prosperous city.
the city of Belfast/Jerusalem/Boston etc
written
▪ The city of Barcelona is famous for its wonderful architecture.
▪ the ancient city of Damascus
▷ village /ˈvɪlɪdʒ/ [countable noun]
a very small town in the country :
▪ There are some nice little pubs in the villages round here.
▪ She left her village in the north of Thailand and went to live in Bangkok.
▷ settlement /ˈsetlmənt/ [countable noun]
a place where people come to live for the first time and where they build a village or town :
▪ She lived in a small settlement on the edge of the desert.
▪ Settlements started to appear all along the river.
▪ The tools were found in an early Iron Age settlement.
2. the centre of a town or city
▷ centre British /center American /ˈsentəʳ/ [countable noun]
the part of a town or city where most of the shops, banks, theatres etc are :
▪ a charming little town with an unspoiled medieval centre
centre of
▪ I work in the centre of London, so I can easily go shopping after work.
city centre British /city center American
▪ A bomb went off in the city center and 19 people were killed.
town centre
British
▪ She’s gone into the town centre to do some shopping.
▷ downtown /ˌdaʊnˈtaʊn◂/ [adverb] American
in or to the part of a city where most of the shops, banks, theatres etc are :
▪ She lives in a really beautiful apartment downtown.
go downtown
▪ I have to go downtown later.
downtown /ˈdaʊntaʊn/ [singular noun]
▪ The downtown was deserted that night.
▷ in/into town /ɪn, ɪntə ˈtaʊn/ [adverb] British spoken
in or into the centre of a town or city :
▪ I suggest we meet somewhere in town and have lunch together.
▪ He bought us tickets to the best show in town.
▪ I’m going into town. Do you want anything?
▪ Can you give me a lift into town?
▷ inner city /ˌɪnəʳ ˈsɪti/ [countable noun]
the areas that are close to the centre of a big city, especially where many poorer people live and there are often social problems - use this especially in political and economic contexts :
▪ policies aimed at revitalizing America’s inner cities
the inner city
▪ Suburban styles of life are very different from those in the inner city.
inner-city [adjective only before noun]
▪ Crime is a big problem in inner-city areas.
▪ children from inner-city schools
3. the areas at the edge of a town or city
▷ suburb /ˈsʌbɜːʳb/ [countable noun]
an area around the edges of a city, where many people live because it is quieter and there is more space than in the centre :
suburb of
▪ I was born and brought up in a suburb of New York City.
the suburbs
▪ More and more people are moving to the suburbs every year.
▪ All the social workers come in from their comfortable homes in the suburbs.
a wealthy/middle-class/respectable etc suburb
▪ They have just bought a house in Pacific Palisades, a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles.
suburban /səˈbɜːʳbən/ [adjective]
▪ a typical suburban house
▷ outskirts /ˈaʊtskɜːʳts/ [plural noun]
the area around the edge of a city or just outside it :
▪ The Cité De Science is a futuristic complex in the Parisian outskirts.
on the outskirts
▪ His body was discovered on the city’s outskirts three days later.
the outskirts of Tokyo/London etc
▪ By 9 o'clock we reached the outskirts of Berlin.
the outskirts of town
▪ There are plans to build a new shopping mall on the outskirts of town.
▷ out-of-town /ˌaʊt əv ˈtaʊn◂/ [adjective only before noun] British
out-of-town shops, cinemas etc are built outside a town, so that people from the town have to drive to them :
▪ an out-of-town shopping centre
▪ Town centre shops face a threat from large out-of-town developments which offer hundreds of shops under one roof.
▷ urban sprawl /ˌɜːʳbən ˈsprɔːl/ [uncountable noun]
a large area of buildings, factories etc around the edges of a city that used to be countryside - use this to describe places that are ugly, noisy, or unpleasant :
▪ At that time, little was done to control the urban sprawl.
▪ The natural habitats of Britain’s wildlife have been ravaged by urban sprawl and pollution.
4. the town where you are from
▷ home town /ˌhəʊm ˈtaʊn/ [countable noun]
the town where you were born, where you lived as a child, or where you live now :
▪ Sarajevo is my home town and I did not want to leave.
home town of
▪ Johnson lived in Seattle for ten years before returning to his home town of Cody, Wyoming.
▷ home /həʊm/ [countable noun]
the place where you were born or the place where you usually live, especially if this is where you feel happy and want to live :
▪ Her home, she said, was in Hong Kong, but she hadn’t been there since she was a child.
feel like home
▪ I’ve lived in Madrid for many years, and it feels like home to me now.
5. the biggest or most important town in a country or area
▷ capital /ˈkæpɪtl, ˈkæpətl/ [countable noun]
the town or city where the government of a country or area is :
▪ Rome is one of the world’s most beautiful capitals.
capital of
▪ What’s the capital of Canada?
capital city
▪ The tour includes a trip to Budapest, Hungary’s capital city.
state/regional/provincial etc capital
▪ Sacramento is the state capital of California.
▷ metropolis /mɪˈtrɒp ə ləs, məˈtrɒp ə ləsǁmə̇ˈtrɑː-/ [countable noun usually singular]
the largest, most important city in a country or area - use this especially to emphasize that a city is busy and full of people and activity :
▪ After 1850 Paris grew quickly into a busy metropolis.
▪ They drove quickly, leaving the immense metropolis behind them.
metropolis of
▪ Our aim is to make Sydney the musical metropolis of the world.
6. relating to or in a town
▷ town /taʊn/ [adjective only before noun]
▪ The town council has proposed a new road building project.
▪ With better town planning, traffic problems could be avoided.
town square
a square in the centre of a town
▪ A market is held daily in the town square.
▷ city /ˈsɪti/ [adjective only before noun]
relating to or in a city :
▪ The city library cost over $15 million to build.
▪ Residents blame city officials for poor housing conditions.
▪ the city authorities
city streets
▪ Beneath the city streets is a network of sewers.
city life
▪ City life is becoming increasingly dangerous.
▷ village /ˈvɪlɪdʒ/ [adjective only before noun] British
relating to a village :
▪ There is a village festival every year at the beginning of May.
▪ Has village life changed significantly in the last few years?
village shop/school/hall etc
▪ We have a church, one pub and a village shop.
▷ urban /ˈɜːʳbən/ [adjective only before noun]
relating to towns and cities, the people who live in them, or the things that happen in them :
▪ The problem of air pollution is especially serious in urban areas.
▪ China’s growing urban population
▪ post-war urban planning
▪ urban growth
▷ civic /ˈsɪvɪk/ [adjective only before noun]
relating to the government of a city or town :
▪ Civic leaders cannot agree on what is best for the city.
▪ An important civic function is taking place in the city hall this evening.
▪ Harlow Council has always been generous with civic funding for music and the arts.
▪ It is the civil duty of every citizen to vote.
▷ municipal /mjuːˈnɪsɪp ə l, mjuːˈnɪsəp ə lǁmjʊ-/ [adjective only before noun]
relating to the government of a town or city or to the public services it provides :
▪ Municipal elections will be held on April 12th.
▪ Not far from the town centre is the municipal park.
▪ The museum and other municipal buildings are threatened.
▷ downtown /ˈdaʊntaʊn/ [adjective only before noun] American
in or belonging to the main business area in the centre of a town or city :
▪ Taylor worked in a dingy little office in downtown Chicago.
▪ Many downtown department stores are moving out into the wealthier suburbs.
▪ a downtown hotel
▷ metropolitan /ˌmetrəˈpɒlɪt ə n◂, ˌmetrəˈpɒlət ə n◂ǁ-ˈpɑː-/ [adjective only before noun]
relating to a large city :
▪ Some workers can only afford homes outside metropolitan areas.
▪ the metropolitan authorities