inner cityˌinner ˈcity noun (plural inner cities) [countable] 
Examples
the problems of our inner cities—inner-city adjective: inner-city schools
ExamplesEXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
Thesaurus- Browntown L.A. hosts 50 inner city kids at every Sunday home game.
- Holidays for inner city groups are also to be provided.
- The inner city question For one reason or another the inner city has always been a target for public regulation and control.
- The respectable residents have long since fled to the suburbs to escape the inner city pathologies.
- The shy, scholarly Republican has roots both on the farm and in the inner city.
- Twice he worked for the Wellington City Mission, among the lost and lonely people of the inner city.
Longman Language Activatoran area where poor people live► inner city
the part near the middle of a city, especially where the buildings are in a bad condition and the people are poor: the part near the middle of a city where the buildings are in bad condition and where a lot of poor people live: · the problems of Britain's inner cities
► slum an area of a city where the houses are in very bad condition and the people are very poor and live in dirty, crowded, and unhealthy conditions: · Maria lives with her eight children in a slum outside Montevideo.the slums: · I grew up in the East London slums.
► ghetto a poor and crowded part of a city, where people live separately from the rest of the population, especially people of one race or from one country. Inner city is now more common than ghetto: · a novel about life in the ghettos of New York· Ottovina lived on the South Side, in the Italian ghetto, and barely spoke any English at all.
the centre of a town or city► centre British /center American the part of a town or city where most of the shops, banks, theatres etc are: · a charming little town with an unspoiled medieval centrecentre of: · I work in the centre of London, so I can easily go shopping after work.city centreBritish /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 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.
► in/into town 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 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 citiesthe inner city: · Suburban styles of life are very different from those in the inner city.
WORD SETS► Geographyabyss, nounalluvial, adjectivealluvium, nounalpine, adjectiveAmerican, adjectiveAntarctica, anticyclone, nounarchipelago, nounArctic, adjectivearid, adjectiveAsia, atlas, nounatoll, nounAustralasia, Australasian, adjectiveAustralia, avalanche, nounaxis, nounbank, nounbarometer, nounbarrier reef, nounbasin, nounbay, nounbayou, nounbeach, nounbearing, nounbed, nounbight, nounbluff, nounborder, nounborder, verbborderland, nounborderline, nounborough, nounbox canyon, nounBritish, adjectivebutte, nouncanyon, nouncape, nouncapital, nouncardinal point, nounCaribbean, adjectivecartography, nouncay, nounchain, nounchaparral, nounchart, nounchasm, nounchimney, nounChinese, adjectivecirrus, nounCIS, nouncliff, nounclimate, nounclimatic, adjectivecoastal, adjectivecoastline, nouncockney, nouncol, nouncold front, nouncommuter belt, nouncompass, nounconfluence, nouncontinent, nouncontinental, adjectivecontinental shelf, nouncontour, nounconurbation, nouncoordinate, nouncorridor, nouncorrie, nouncoterminous, adjectivecouncil estate, nouncountry, nouncounty, nouncounty town, nouncourse, nouncove, nouncrag, nouncraggy, adjectivecreek, nouncrevasse, nouncrevice, nouncumulus, nouncyclone, noundateline, noundelta, noundesert, noundesert island, noundevelopment, noundistrict, noundivide, noundown, adverbdune, noundust bowl, nouneast, nouneast, adjectiveeast, adverbeastbound, adjectiveeasterly, adjectiveeasterly, nouneastern, adjectiveEasterner, nouneasternmost, adjectiveeastwards, adverbelevation, nouneminence, nounenvirons, nounequatorial, adjectiveerode, verberosion, nounescarpment, nounestuary, nounEurope, nounextraterritorial, adjectiveeyot, nounface, nounfarmland, nounfeeder, nounfiord, nounfirth, nounfjord, nounflood plain, nounfluvial, adjectivefrontier, nounfrontiersman, noungale force, adjectivegap, noungeo-, prefixgeography, noungeophysics, noungeopolitics, noungeyser, nounglacial, adjectiveglaciation, nounglacier, nounglobe, noungoldfield, noungorge, noungrassland, nounGrecian, adjectivegreen belt, noungrid, noungrotto, noungroundwater, noungulch, noungulf, noungully, nounhead, nounheadland, nounheadwaters, nounheartland, nounhemisphere, nounhighland, adjectivehighlands, nounhigh water mark, nounhinterland, nounHome Counties, the, homeland, nounhurricane, noun-i, suffixIberian, adjectiveiceberg, nounice cap, nounice floe, nounice pack, nounice sheet, nouninhabitant, nouninland, adjectiveinland, adverbinlet, nouninner city, nouninshore, adverbinsular, adjectiveintercontinental, adjectiveInternational Date Line, nounisland, nounisle, nounislet, nounisobar, nounIsraeli, adjectiveIsraeli, nounisthmus, nounItalian, adjectiveItalianate, adjectiveItalo-, prefixJapanese, adjectivekey, nounknoll, nounlagoon, nounlake, nounlandlocked, adjectivelandmass, nounlandslide, nounlandslip, nounlat., Latin, adjectiveLatin America, nounLatin American, adjectivelatitude, nounlevee, nounlittoral, nounlong., longitude, nounlongitudinal, adjectivelough, nounlowlands, nounlow-lying, adjectivelow water mark, nounmagnetic north, nounmagnetic pole, nounmarsh, nounmarshland, nounmeander, verbMediterranean, adjectiveMercator projection, nounmeridian, nounmesa, nounMiddle America, nounmidtown, adjectivemonsoon, nounmoorland, nounmorass, nounmountain, nounmountainside, nounmountaintop, nounmouth, nounmudslide, nounmull, nounnarrows, nounnavigation, nounNE, neck, nounnor'-, prefixnorth, nounnorth, adjectivenorth, adverbNorth America, nounnortheast, nounnortheast, adjectivenortheasterly, adjectivenortheastern, adjectivenortheastwards, adverbnortherly, adjectivenorthern, adjectivenortherner, nounnorthernmost, adjectivenorthwards, adverbnorthwest, nounnorthwest, adjectivenorthwesterly, adjectivenorthwestern, adjectivenorthwestwards, adverbnotch, nounNW, NZ, oasis, nounoccidental, nounocean, nounonshore, adjectiveopenness, nounOrdnance Survey map, nounoriental, adjectiveoutcrop, nounoverspill, nounpack ice, nounpaddy, nounpalisade, nounpan-, prefixpanhandle, nounparallel, nounpeak, nounpeninsula, nounPersian, adjectivephysical geography, nounplain, nounplateau, nounpoint, nounpolar, adjectivepole, nounpolitical geography, nounpollutant, nounpop., populate, verbpopulation, nounprairie, nounprecipice, nounprecipitation, nounPrime Meridian, principality, nounprojection, nounpromontory, nounprovince, nounprovincial, adjectivepueblo, nounR, rainfall, nounrain forest, nounrain gauge, nounrainstorm, nounrange, nounravine, nounreef, nounreference, nounregion, nounregional, adjectiverelief map, nounreservoir, nounresettle, verbresidential, adjectiveresource, nounridge, nounrift valley, nounrise, verbriver, nounriver basin, nounriver bed, nounRoman, adjectiverotation, nounrugged, adjectiverun-off, nounrural, adjectivesand, nounsand bar, nounsandstorm, nounsandy, adjectivesavanna, nounScandinavian, nounscar, nounscarp, nounscree, nounscrubland, nounSE, seaboard, nounsea breeze, nounseafront, nounsea level, nounseaport, nounseaward, adjectivesection, nounsemitropical, adjectiveshelf, nounslough, nounsmog, nounsnowfield, nounsource, nounsouth, nounsouth, adjectivesouth, adverbSouth America, adjectivesoutheast, nounsoutheast, adjectivesoutheasterly, adjectivesoutheastern, adjectivesoutheastwards, adverbsoutherly, adjectivesouthern, adjectivesouthernmost, adjectivesouthwards, adverbsouthwest, nounsouthwest, adjectivesouthwesterly, adjectivesouthwestern, adjectivesouthwestwards, adverbspeleology, nounspit, nounspur, nounstrait, nounsubcontinent, nounsubtropical, adjectivesuburb, nounsuburban, adjectivesummit, nounsurvey, nounsurvey, verbSW, swamp, nountableland, nounterrain, nounterritory, nountidal, adjectivetidal wave, nountidewater, nountime zone, nountop, nountopography, nountor, nountornado, nountown, nountown centre, nountowpath, nountrack, nountract, nountrade route, nountrail, nountransatlantic, adjectivetranscontinental, adjectivetributary, nountropic, nountropical, adjectivetundra, nountyphoon, nounUK, the, uncharted, adjectiveup, adverbup-country, adjectiveuplands, nounupper, adjectiveupriver, adverbupstate, adjectiveupstream, adverbuptown, adverburban, adjectiveurbanized, adjectiveurban renewal, nounurban sprawl, nounUS, the, adjectivevalley, nounW, warm front, nounwaste, adjectivewasteland, nounwater, verbwatercourse, nounwaterfall, nounwaterfront, nounwaterhole, nounwatering place, nounwater meadow, nounwatershed, nounwater table, nounwaterway, nounweather vane, nounwest, nounwest, adjectiveWest, nounwestern, adjectiveWesterner, nounwesternmost, adjectivewestward, adverbwilderness, nounwolds, nounzoning, noun
the problems of our inner cities—inner-city adjective: inner-city schools