west

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

• noun The cardinal point on the mariner's compass 270° clockwise from due north and directly opposite east.
• noun The direction opposite to the direction of the earth's axial rotation.
• noun An area or region lying in the west.
• noun The western part of the earth, especially Europe and the Western Hemisphere.
• noun The western part of a region or country.
• noun A historical region of the United States west of the Allegheny Mountains.
• noun The region of the United States west of the Mississippi River.
• noun The United States, Canada, and the noncommunist countries of Europe, especially during the Cold War.
• noun The nations of North America and Europe with developed capitalist economies, especially in contrast to less-developed nations.
• adjective To, toward, of, facing, or in the west.
• adjective Originating in or coming from the west.
• adverb In, from, or toward the west.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To or toward the west; westward or westerly; specifically (ecclesiastical), toward or in the direction of that part of a church which is furthest from the altar or high altar.
• To move toward the west; turn or veer to the west.
• noun One of the four cardinal points of the compass, opposite to the east, and lying on the left hand when one faces the north; the point in the heavens where the sun sets at the equinox, or the corresponding point on the earth; more generally, the place of sunset. Abbreviated W.
• noun The quarter or direction toward the mean point of sunset; the tendency or trend directly away from the east; the western part or side: with to, at, or on: as, that place lies to the west of this; to travel to the west; at or on the west were high mountains; Europe is bounded on the west by the Atlantic.
• noun The western part or division of a region mentioned or understood: as, the west of Europe or of England; the Canadian west; he lives in the west (of a town, county, etc.).
• noun Eccles.:
• noun The point of the compass toward which one is turned when looking from the altar or high altar toward the further end of the nave or the usual position of the main entrance of a church. See east, n., 1.
• noun In church hist., the church in the Western Empire and countries adjacent, especially on the north; the Western Church
• Situated in, on, or to the west; being or lying westward with reference to something else; western: as, the West Indies; West Virginia; the west bank or the west fork of a river; west longitude.
• Coming or moving from the west or western region: as, a west wind.
• Eccles., situated in, or in the direction of, that part of a church which is furthest from the altar or high altar; opposite the ecclesiastical east

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• intransitive verb obsolete To pass to the west; to set, as the sun.
• intransitive verb To turn or move toward the west; to veer from the north or south toward the west.
• adverb Westward.
• adjective Lying toward the west; situated at the west, or in a western direction from the point of observation or reckoning; proceeding toward the west, or coming from the west.
• adjective (Eccl.) Designating, or situated in, that part of a church which is opposite to, and farthest from, the east, or the part containing the chancel and choir.
• adjective the fashionable part of London, commencing from the east, at Charing Cross.
• noun The point in the heavens where the sun is seen to set at the equinox; or, the corresponding point on the earth; that one of the four cardinal points of the compass which is in a direction at right angles to that of north and south, and on the left hand of a person facing north; the point directly opposite to east.
• noun A country, or region of country, which, with regard to some other country or region, is situated in the direction toward the west.
• noun The Westen hemisphere, or the New World so called, it having been discovered by sailing westward from Europe; the Occident.
• noun (U. S. Hist. & Geog.) Formerly, that part of the United States west of the Alleghany mountains; now, commonly, the whole region west of the Mississippi river; esp., that part which is north of the Indian Territory, New Mexico, etc. Usually with the definite article.
• noun according to the notation of the mariner's compass, that point which lies 111/4° to the north or south, respectively, of the point due west.
• noun that point which lies 221/2° to the north or south of west, or halfway between west and northwest or southwest, respectively. See Illust. of Compass.

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

• noun One of the four principal compass points, specifically 270°, conventionally directed to the left on maps; the direction of the setting sun at an equinox.
• adjective Situated or lying in or toward the west; westward.
• adjective meteorology Of wind: from the west.
• adjective Of or pertaining to the west; western.
• adjective From the West; occidental.
• adverb Towards the west; westwards.

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

• noun the region of the United States lying to the west of the Mississippi River
• noun the direction corresponding to the westward cardinal compass point