town S1 W1 /taʊn/ BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: tun 'yard, buildings inside a wall, village, town' ]
1 . PLACE [countable] a large area with houses, shops, offices etc where people live and work, that is smaller than a city and larger than a village:
an industrial town in the Midlands
town of
the town of Norwalk, Connecticut
I walked to the nearest town.
2 . MAIN CENTRE [uncountable] the business or shopping centre of a town:
We’re going into town tonight to see a film.
They have a small apartment in town.
3 . PEOPLE [singular] all the people who live in a particular town:
The whole town turned out to watch the procession.
4 . WHERE YOU LIVE [uncountable] the town or city where you live:
Cam left town about an hour ago, so he should be out at the farm by now.
I’ll be out of town for about a week.
Guess who’s in town? Jodie’s sister!
Do you know of a good place to eat? I’m from out of town (=from a different town) .
We’re moving to another part of town.
5 . VILLAGE [countable] American English several houses forming a small group around a church, shops etc SYN village British English :
Rowayton is a small town of around 4000 people.
6 . NOT COUNTRY the town life in towns and cities in general:
Which do you prefer, the town or the country?
7 . go to town (on something) informal to do something in a very eager or thorough way:
Angela really went to town on buying things for her new house.
8 . (out) on the town informal going to restaurants, bars, theatres etc for entertainment in the evening:
Frank is taking me out for a night on the town.
9 . town and gown used to describe the situation in which the people living in a town and the students in a town seem to be separate and opposing groups
⇨ ↑ ghost town , ↑ home town , ⇨ paint the town (red) at ↑ paint 2 (5)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + town
▪ small/big
I grew up in a small town in Iowa.
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The nearest big town is 20 miles away.
▪ a little town
a pretty little town in the French Alps
▪ a major town
It is one of the UK’s biggest retailers with shops in every major town.
▪ busy/bustling
The town was busy even in November.
▪ quiet
The town is quiet in the summer.
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Cannigione is a quiet little town with a scattering of shops, restaurants and cafes.
▪ sleepy (=very quiet, with not much happening)
Johnson grew up in the sleepy retirement town of Asheville.
▪ a historic/ancient town
Visitors can go on a tour of this historic town.
▪ an industrial town
Thousands moved to the newly forming industrial towns to work in the mills.
▪ a seaside town
young people looking for seasonal work in seaside towns
▪ a provincial town (=one that is not near the capital)
Many provincial towns were transformed by the coming of the railway.
▪ a market town (=a town in Britain where there is a regular outdoor market)
The pretty market town of Ashbourne is only 9 miles away.
▪ sb’s home town (=the town where someone was born)
He was buried in his home town of Leeds.
▪ a new town (=one of several towns built in Britain since 1946)
The design of Milton Keynes and other new towns proved unpopular.
■ phrases
▪ the centre of town/the town centre British English , the center of town/the town center American English
The hotel was right in the center of town.
▪ the outskirts/edge of a town
It was six o'clock when she reached the outskirts of the town.
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THESAURUS
■ place with houses, shops, and offices
▪ city a large area with houses, shops, offices etc that is often the centre of government for an area. A city is bigger than a town :
The nearest big city is San Francisco.
▪ town a large area with houses, shops, offices etc. A town is smaller than a city :
La Coruña is a pretty seaside town.
▪ capital ( also capital city ) the city where the government of a country or state is:
We travelled to Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
▪ metropolis a big busy city that is full of people and activity:
After 1850 Paris grew quickly into a busy metropolis.
▪ urban adjective [only before noun] relating to towns and cities:
Air pollution is particularly bad in urban areas.
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urban development