/ taʊn; NAmE / noun
1.
[ C , U ] a place with many houses, shops / stores, etc. where people live and work. It is larger than a village but smaller than a city :
a university town
They live in a rough part of town.
The nearest town is ten miles away.
We spent a month in the French town of Le Puy.
—see also small-town
HELP NOTE : You will find other compounds ending in town at their place in the alphabet.
2.
the town [ sing. ] the people who live in a particular town :
The whole town is talking about it.
3.
[ U ] the area of a town where most of the shops / stores and businesses are :
Can you give me a lift into town?
—see also downtown , midtown , out-of-town , uptown
4.
[ U ] ( especially NAmE ) a particular town where sb lives and works or one that has just been referred to :
I'll be in town next week if you want to meet.
He married a girl from out of town.
—see also out-of-town
5.
[ sing. , U ] life in towns or cities as opposed to life in the country :
Pollution is just one of the disadvantages of living in the town.
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IDIOMS
- go to town (on sth)
- (out) on the town
—more at game noun , man noun , paint verb
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English tūn enclosed piece of land, homestead, village , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch tuin garden and German Zaun fence.