Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • A state of the northwest United States in the Pacific Northwest. It was admitted as the 33rd state in 1859. Claimed by the United States after Capt. Robert Gray explored the mouth of the Columbia River in 1792, the area was further explored by Lewis and Clark in 1805 and was soon the site of fur-trading posts. The Oregon Country, a region encompassing all the land from the California border to Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains, was held jointly by Great Britain and the United States from 1818 until 1846, when the international boundary was fixed at the 49th parallel. In 1848 the Oregon Territory was created, including all of present-day Washington and Idaho. The state's current boundaries were established in 1853. Salem is the capital and Portland the largest city.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A northwestern state of the United States of America. Capital: Salem.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a state in northwestern United States on the Pacific

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin unknown; multiple theories persist. See Wikipedia article on Oregon toponym for more information.

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Examples

  • VOTING IN OREGON: The 2008 Democratic Primary gives you a peek into the mail-in elections that Oregon employs, as well as the inside of the Lane County Convention Center where the results came in the evening of the 20th.

    Voting in Oregon: The 2008 Democratic Primary 2008

  • TIM HIBBITTS, OREGON POLLSTER: Senator Obama will do very well even among less educated whites here in Oregon.

    CNN Transcript May 19, 2008 2008

  • OBAMA IN OREGON (PT. 3) concludes our trilogy featuring Obama's rousing event that energized the town of Eugene, Oregon as well as the University of Oregon, and packed McArthur Court to overflowing on March 21, 2008.

    Obama in Eugene Pt. 3 [MTV vlog 5-14-08] 2008

  • YOUR FAITHFUL OREGON representative for the MTV Street Team '08 (ahem, yours truly) is invisible on this day, because Oregon doesn't exist when it comes to Super Tuesday.

    MTV Street Team '08 Reports on Super Tuesday 2008

  • DAN GARDNER, OREGON LABOR COMMISSIONER: They always predict the gloom and doom, but it really just hasn't borne out in the figures across Oregon.

    CNN Transcript Mar 15, 2006 2006

  • GREGG HASTINGS, OREGON STATE POLICE: I believe one wool sock, a blue girl's skirt and pieces of an Oregon state map that were sort of cut up.

    CNN Transcript Dec 6, 2006 2006

  • SFC VINCE JACQUES, OREGON NATIONAL GUARD: It was later in the evening, and we decided to stop by one of our favorite watering holes, the Oregon Trader.

    CNN Transcript Jul 4, 2005 2005

  • TED KULONGOSKI (D), OREGON: Well, Oregon was one of the first states that I think that was cited as having a crisis situation with methamphetamine.

    CNN Transcript Aug 24, 2005 2005

  • TED KULONGOSKI (D), OREGON: Well, Oregon was one of the first states that I think that was cited as having a crisis situation with methamphetamine.

    CNN Transcript Aug 5, 2005 2005

  • TOM POTIOWSKY, OREGON STATE ECONOMIST: Exports have increased, which is important for Oregon.

    CNN Transcript Sep 16, 2003 2003

Comments

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  • For Oregon towns that you could find in the dictionary, see this list by peregrina.

    For a more general list, see Oregon words, another list by peregrina.

    January 30, 2011

  • Also see places-in-oregon by misterbaby.

    May 2, 2018