COLUMBUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Columbus mean? 

• COLUMBUS (noun)
  The noun COLUMBUS has 4 senses:

1. the state capital of Ohio; located in the center of the state; site of Ohio State University

2. Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506)

3. a town in eastern Mississippi near the border with Alabama

4. a city in western Georgia on the Chattahoochee River; industrial center

  Familiarity information: COLUMBUS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COLUMBUS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state capital of Ohio; located in the center of the state; site of Ohio State University

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

capital of Ohio; Columbus

Instance hypernyms:

state capital (the capital city of a political subdivision of a country)

Meronyms (parts of "Columbus"):

Ohio State University (a university in Columbus, Ohio)

Holonyms ("Columbus" is a part of...):

Buckeye State; OH; Ohio (a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Christopher Columbus; Columbus; Cristobal Colon; Cristoforo Colombo

Instance hypernyms:

navigator (in earlier times, a person who explored by ship)

Derivation:

Columbian (of or relating to Christopher Columbus)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A town in eastern Mississippi near the border with Alabama

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Instance hypernyms:

town (an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city)

Holonyms ("Columbus" is a part of...):

Magnolia State; Miss.; Mississippi; MS (a state in the Deep South on the gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate States during the American Civil War)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A city in western Georgia on the Chattahoochee River; industrial center

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Instance hypernyms:

city; metropolis; urban center (a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts)

point of entry; port of entry (a port in the United States where customs officials are stationed to oversee the entry and exit of people and merchandise)

 Context examples 

You are a Columbus of science who has discovered a lost world.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Christopher Columbus! What's the matter?" cried Jo, as Beth put out her hand as if to warn her off, and asked quickly. . .

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Its capital is Columbus.

(Ohio, NCI Thesaurus)

Astronomers at the Ohio State University, Columbus, revealed the discovery of an exoplanet, named KELT-9b and according to the university's astronomy professor Scott Gaudi, it is the hottest gas giant planet that has ever been discovered.

(Astronomers reveal discovery of the hottest gas giant exoplanet known yet, Wikinews)

By probing the effect that vitamin D-3 has on the cells that make up the lining of blood vessels, scientists at Ohio State University in Columbus have identified for the first time the role that the sunshine vitamin plays in preserving cardiovascular health.

(Vitamin D-3 Could 'Reverse' Damage to Heart, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Don't put your hands behind you, or stare, or say 'Christopher Columbus!' will you?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

They are not perfect ovals—like the egg in the Columbus story they are both crushed flat at the contact end—but their physical resemblance must be a source of perpetual confusion to the gulls that fly overhead.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)