Somme, the /sɒm $ sɑːm/ BrE AmE
a river in northeastern France, or the area close to this river where several important battles were fought during World War I. After five months of fighting, the British army had moved forward by just a few miles, and had lost hundreds of thousands of men. Because of this, the Somme is connected in people's minds with the terrible waste of life in World War I.