VA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does VA mean? 

• VA (noun)
  The noun VA has 2 senses:

1. a state in the eastern United States; one of the original 13 colonies; one of the Confederate States in the American Civil War

2. the United States federal department responsible for the interests of military veterans; created in 1989

  Familiarity information: VA used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state in the eastern United States; one of the original 13 colonies; one of the Confederate States in the American Civil War

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Old Dominion; Old Dominion State; VA; Va.; Virginia

Instance hypernyms:

American state (one of the 50 states of the United States)

Meronyms (parts of "VA"):

Clinch River (a river that rises in southwestern Virginia and flows generally southwestward across eastern Tennessee to the Tennessee River)

Chesapeake Bay (a large inlet of the North Atlantic between Virginia and Maryland; fed by Susquehanna River)

Blue Ridge; Blue Ridge Mountains (a range of the Appalachians extending from southern Pennsylvania to northern Georgia)

Alleghenies; Allegheny Mountains (the western part of the Appalachian Mountains; extending from northern Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia)

Mount Vernon (the former residence of George Washington in northeastern Virginia overlooking the Potomac river)

Yorktown (a historic village in southeastern Virginia to the north of Newport News; site of the last battle of the American Revolution)

Spotsylvania (a village in northeastern Virginia where battles were fought during the American Civil War)

Elizabeth River (a short river in southeastern Virginia flowing between Norfolk and Portsmouth into Hampton Roads)

Petersburg (a town in southeastern Virginia (south of Richmond); scene of heavy fighting during the American Civil War)

Fredericksburg (a town in northeastern Virginia on the Rappahannock River)

Chancellorsville (a village in northeastern Virginia)

Bull Run (a creek in northeastern Virginia where two battles were fought in the American Civil War)

Virginia Beach (the largest city in Virginia; long overshadowed by Norfolk but growing rapidly since 1970; with 28 miles of public beaches tourism is a major factor in the economy; site of three United States Navy bases)

Roanoke (a city in southwestern Virginia)

Portsmouth (a port city in southeastern Virginia on the Elizabeth River opposite Norfolk; naval base; shipyards)

Lynchburg (a city in central Virginia)

Norfolk (port city located in southeastern Virginia on the Elizabeth River at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay; headquarters of the Atlantic fleet of the United States Navy)

Newport News (a port city in southeastern Virginia at the mouth of the James River off Hampton Roads; large shipyards)

Jamestown (a former village on the James River in Virginia to the north of Norfolk; site of the first permanent English settlement in America in 1607)

Blacksburg (a university town in southwestern Virginia (west of Roanoke) in the Allegheny Mountains)

capital of Virginia; Richmond (capital of the state of Virginia located in the east central part of the state; was capital of the Confederacy during the American Civil War)

Shenandoah National Park (a national park in Virginia for the Blue Ridge Mountains)

Hampton Roads (a channel in southeastern Virginia through which the Elizabeth River and the James River flow into Chesapeake Bay)

James; James River (a river in Virginia that flows east into Chesapeake Bay at Hampton Roads)

Potomac; Potomac River (a river in the east central United States; rises in West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains and flows eastward, forming the boundary between Maryland and Virginia, to the Chesapeake Bay)

Rappahannock; Rappahannock River (a river that flows across eastern Virginia into the Tidewater region)

Shenandoah River (a river of northern Virginia that empties into the Potomac at Harpers Ferry)

Shenandoah Valley (a large valley between the Allegheny Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia; site of numerous battles during the American Civil War)

Domain member region:

Wilderness (a wooded region in northeastern Virginia near Spotsylvania where bloody but inconclusive battles were fought in the American Civil War)

siege of Yorktown; Yorktown (in 1781 the British under Cornwallis surrendered after a siege of three weeks by American and French troops; the surrender ended the American Revolution)

Wilderness Campaign (American Civil War; a series of indecisive battles in Grant's campaign (1864) against Lee in which both armies suffered terrible losses)

battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse; Spotsylvania (a battle between the armies of Grant and Lee during the Wilderness Campaign)

Petersburg; Petersburg Campaign (the final campaign of the American Civil War (1864-65); Union forces under Grant besieged and finally defeated Confederate forces under Lee)

Battle of Fredericksburg; Fredericksburg (an important battle in the American Civil War (1862); the Union Army under A. E. Burnside was defeated by the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee)

Chancellorsville (a major battle in the American Civil War (1863); the Confederates under Robert E. Lee defeated the Union forces under Joseph Hooker)

Battle of Bull Run; Bull Run (either of two battles during the American Civil War (1861 and 1862); Confederate forces defeated the Federal army in both battles)

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

America; the States; U.S.; U.S.A.; United States; United States of America; US; USA (North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776)

South (the region of the United States lying to the south of the Mason-Dixon line)

Holonyms ("VA" is a member of...):

Confederacy; Confederate States; Confederate States of America; Dixie; Dixieland; South (the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The United States federal department responsible for the interests of military veterans; created in 1989

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

Department of Veterans Affairs; VA

Hypernyms ("VA" is a kind of...):

executive department (a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States)

 Context examples 

Vell, your R’yal ’Ighness, it vas like this.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mutation of the gene is associated with cystic fibrosis and congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens.

(CFTR wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

A new study now adds kidney disease to the list, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs (VA) St. Louis Health Care System.

(Breathing Dirty Air May Harm Kidneys, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

"Est-ce que ma robe va bien?" cried she, bounding forwards; "et mes souliers? et mes bas? Tenez, je crois que je vais danser!"

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A global nonprofit bioscience organization (located at 10801 University Boulevard, Manassas, VA 20110-2209 703-365-2700) that provides biological products, technical services, and educational programs to private industry, government, and academic organizations around the world.

(ATCC, NCI Thesaurus)

A convoluted tube connecting the efferent ductules of the testicle to the vas deferens.

(Duct of the Epididymis, NCI Thesaurus)

Bilateral tubes formed by the joining of the vas deferens and the excretory duct of the seminal vesicle which merge into the urethra after passing through the prostate.

(Ejaculatory Duct, NCI Thesaurus)

“Qui va?” he cried.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They vas lyin’ in the kennel three deep all down Tottenham Court road wid their ’ands to their sides just vit to break themselves in two.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The scientists culled national VA databases to evaluate the effects of air pollution and kidney disease on nearly 2.5 million people over a period of 8.5 years, beginning in 2004.

(Breathing Dirty Air May Harm Kidneys, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)