county
/ˈkaʊnti
/noun (plural counties)
1A territorial division of some countries, forming the chief unit of local administration: one of the most attractive towns in the county [as modifier]: administration at county level...
- England is also a culture of many smaller regionalisms, still centered on the old governmental unit of the county and the local villages and towns.
- But he claimed highways chiefs from the county's local councils had been insistent that the 11 additional sites were needed now.
- Residents will have the chance to express their views and concerns about local policing to the county's chief constable in a live webchat next week.
Synonyms
shire, province, territory, administrative unit, sector, department, state;
region, district, area, zone
archaic demesne
1.1British A sporting team playing for a county: it is the county’s third final in four years...
- He was the leading scorer for his county despite his team finishing last in the championships.
- He used to play hockey for a national league team and his county but nowadays he runs to keep fit.
- The county's governing body is launching a veterans' league, mainly consisting of semi-professionals who are beyond their sell-by date.
1.2(In the US) a political and administrative division of a state.His spending blazed a new path through the county's usual political circuit....
- Meanwhile, the man and his family have retaliated against the county and its political system.
- The county has a political structure that has pushed for integrated housing and public facilities.
1.3 [as modifier] British Relating to or characteristic of aristocratic people with an ancestral home in a particular county: a county grande dame
Synonyms
landowning, landed, upper-class, well born, high-born, noble-born, noble, aristocratic, patrician, titled, blue-blooded, born with a silver spoon in one's mouth;
British upmarket
informal upper-crust, top-drawer, {huntin', shootin', and fishin'}, tweedy, classy, posh
archaic gentle, of gentle birth
Origin
Middle English: from Old French conte, from Latin comitatus, from comes, comit- (see count2). The word seems first to have denoted a periodical meeting held to transact shire business.
Rhymes
- Spanish broom
- Spanish chestnut
- Spanish Civil War
- Spanish-Colonial
- Spanish flu
- Spanish fly
- Spanish guitar
- Spanish influenza
- Spanish Inquisition
- Spanish mackerel
- Spanish Main
- Spanish Mission
- Spanish moss
- Spanish needles
- Spanishness
- Spanish omelette
- Spanish onion
- Spanish practice
- Spanish rice
- Spanish Sahara
- Spanish Succession, War of the
- Spanish Town
- Spanish windlass
- spank
- spanker