Definitions

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

  • adverb & adjective Toward, to, or in the west.
  • noun A westward direction, point, or region.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Toward the west; in a westerly direction: as, to ride or sail westward.
  • Toward the ecclesiastical west. See west.
  • Being toward the west; bearing or tending westward: as, a westward position or course; the westward trend of the mountains.

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

  • adjective Lying toward the west.
  • noun The western region or countries; the west.
  • adverb Toward the west.

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

  • adjective Lying toward the west.
  • adverb Toward the west; as, to ride or sail westward.
  • noun The western region or countries; the west.

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

  • noun the cardinal compass point that is a 270 degrees
  • adverb toward the west
  • adjective moving toward the west

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English westweard.

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Examples

  • They travel by canoe westward from the shores of Lake Superior along the rivers of northern Minnesota, in search of a new home.

    The Porcupine Year by Louise Erdrich: Book summary 2010

  • At Chemulpo, only a few miles westward from the Korean capital of Seoul, London barely had time to recover from his ailments when he learned that the Russian advance had nearly reached Ping Yang (Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, today), nearly 200 miles to the north.

    JACK LONDON'S WAR 2010

  • Officials suspect three or four sub-adult male grizzlies are responsible for this year's sightings, having paddled and island-hopped their way westward from the B.C. mainland.

    Grizzly Bears Sighted On Vancouver Island Dave Hurteau 2008

  • Asia Minor, or Anatolia, is a peninsula stretching westward from the Armenian mountains to the Aegean Sea, with the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean to the south.

    7. Asia Minor, c. 3000-333 B.C.E 2001

  • For this he blamed himself; he felt a deep ambivalence about his role in westward expansion.

    Great American Hunters: Daniel Boone 1999

  • For this he blamed himself; he felt a deep ambivalence about his role in westward expansion.

    Great American Hunters: Daniel Boone 1999

  • A regular permit to move westward is practically only granted to elderly people in very exceptional cases.

    Expellees—A Problem of a Divided Germany 1959

  • (Applause) Every important river on this continent, with the exception of the Missouri and Mississippi and those that flow westward from the Appalachian Range, have their origin in the northern water-shed, and all the important rivers are flowing north.

    The Outlook for Canada 1922

  • The romance of them was in my blood; I thrilled to the lure of adventure which had led my forefathers westward from the Old Land – a land which I always heard referred to as "Home," by men and women whose parents were Canadian born and bred.

    The Alpine Path: The Story of My Career Lucy Maud 1917

  • The buffalo clover found in the western part of this State, and common still farther westward, is the only undoubtedly native variety we possess.

    Rural Hours 1887

Comments

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  • "A massive earthquake last week has brought New Zealand closer to Australia, scientists say. The 7.8 magnitude quake in the Tasman Sea has expanded New Zealand's South Island westwards by about 30cm (12in).

    ...

    But correspondents say that with more than 2,250km (1,400 miles) separating the countries, the narrowing will not exactly be visible. Nor, as the New Zealand media have observed, is it likely to bring cheaper air fares."

    - Quake moves NZ towards Australia, bbc.co.uk, 22 July 2009.

    July 22, 2009

  • ... the New Zealand media can't possibly be as fun as this makes them sound.

    Can they?

    July 23, 2009

  • Those hobbits! More fun than a gondola full of gophers 'n gumbo.

    July 23, 2009