Delaware

[ del-uh-wair ]

noun,plural Del·a·wares, (especially collectively) Del·a·ware for 5.
  1. a state in the eastern United States, on the Atlantic coast. 2,057 square miles (5,330 square kilometers). Capital: Dover. Abbreviations: DE (for use with zip code), Del.

  1. a city in central Ohio.

  2. a river flowing south from southeastern New York, along the boundary between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, into the Delaware Bay. 296 miles (475 kilometers) long.

  3. a member of a grouping of North American Indian peoples, comprising the Munsee, Unami, and Unalachtigo, formerly occupying the drainage basin of the Delaware River, the lower Hudson River valley, and the intervening area.

  4. the Eastern Algonquian language of any of the Delaware peoples.

  5. Horticulture.

    • a red vinifera grape grown for table use that yields a white wine.

    • the vine bearing this fruit.

Origin of Delaware

1
First recorded in 1720–30 in reference to the American Indian peoples

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Delaware in a sentence

  • They were Nanticokes—a people whose remains united themselves or at least took shelter with the Lenapees, or Delawares.

    The Indian in his Wigwam | Henry R. Schoolcraft
  • Bouquet, with a thousand men, penetrated the forests further south to compel the fierce Delawares and Shawnees to submission.

    Four American Indians | Edson L. Whitney
  • Fort Pitt, one of the most important posts on the frontier, held out against the attacks of the Delawares and the Shawnees.

    Four American Indians | Edson L. Whitney
  • The two Delawares made a dash to recover their animals, their companions shooting the foremost of the thieves.

    The Life of Kit Carson | Edward S. Ellis
  • These red men belonged to the great tribe, which the English named the Delawares.

British Dictionary definitions for Delaware (1 of 3)

Delaware1

/ (ˈdɛləˌwɛə) /


noun
  1. plural -wares or -ware a member of a North American Indian people formerly living near the Delaware River

  2. the language of this people, belonging to the Algonquian family

British Dictionary definitions for Delaware (2 of 3)

Delaware2

/ (ˈdɛləˌwɛə) /


noun
  1. a state of the northeastern US, on the Delmarva Peninsula: mostly flat and low-lying, with hills in the extreme north and cypress swamps in the extreme south. Capital: Dover. Pop: 817 491 (2003 est). Area: 5004 sq km (1932 sq miles): Abbreviation: Del., (with zip code) DE

  2. a river in the northeastern US, rising in the Catskill Mountains and flowing south into Delaware Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic. Length 660 km (410 miles)

British Dictionary definitions for Delaware (3 of 3)

Delaware3

/ (ˈdɛləˌwɛə) /


noun
  1. an American variety of grape that has sweet light red fruit

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Delaware

Delaware

State in the eastern United States bordered by Pennsylvania to the north, Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and Maryland to the west and south. Its capital is Dover, and its largest city is Wilmington.

Notes for Delaware

One of the thirteen colonies.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.