Definitions

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

  • An area comprising the countries of southwest Asia and northeast Africa.

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

  • proper noun The region comprising southwest Asia and northeast Africa.

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

  • noun the area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam; had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th century

Etymologies

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Examples

  • On this side of the word, where what we call the Middle East is known as "West Asia," there is a palpable sense that the other kind of Islam is on the march: Saudi Arabian religious imperialism is fighting a well-funded battle to follow London and Moscow as the next foreign force to seize control of these continually subjected peoples.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed 2009

  • At least over there we think what we call the Middle East which would sort of be the eastern side of that long, narrow acreage position.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page 2008

  • At least over there we think what we call the Middle East which would sort of be the eastern side of that long, narrow acreage position.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page 2008

  • At least over there we think what we call the Middle East which would sort of be the eastern side of that long, narrow acreage position.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page 2008

  • At least over there we think what we call the Middle East which would sort of be the eastern side of that long, narrow acreage position.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page 2008

  • John in Massachusetts: "The term Middle East peace should be forgotten.

    CNN Transcript May 11, 2009 2009

  • He called the Middle East situation “a problem of tremendous delicacy and complexity.”

    Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

  • He called the Middle East situation “a problem of tremendous delicacy and complexity.”

    Eisenhower 1956 David A. Nichols 2011

  • The current stand-off with Iran should be called "Middle East WMD 2.0."

    Paul Heroux: Middle East WMD 2.0 - Someone Will Be Proven Wrong on Iran Paul Heroux 2012

  • Israel happens to be number one on the list, nestling as it does amongst the seething hotbed we call the Middle East and as such must be removed.

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009

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