border state

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A state that lies along the border between two countries or regions.

   Grammar: Countable; often used in the plural: border states.

   Patterns

   • a border state between something and something
   • the border states of a region

   Texas is a border state, sharing a long boundary with Mexico.

   The border states often have cultures that blend influences from both sides.

   Goods move easily across the border states of the European Union.

2. 2nouncountableAmerican

   In U.S. history, a slaveholding state that remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War.

   Grammar: Countable; usually in the plural with the definite article: the border states.

   Patterns

   • the border states
   • a border state during the Civil War

   Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri were border states during the American Civil War.

   The border states were crucial to Lincoln's strategy because they stayed in the Union.

   Historians often study how border states balanced loyalty to the Union with slavery.

Word forms

Common combinations

a border state between two countries

Arizona is a border state between the United States and Mexico.

the border states during the Civil War

The border states during the Civil War included Kentucky and Missouri.

a key border state

Pennsylvania was a key border state in the early republic.

border state politics

Border state politics often focus on trade and immigration.

Synonyms and how they differ

frontier state

Frontier state often suggests a wilder, less settled region; border state is more neutral and geographical.

buffer state

Buffer state is a country between two rival powers; border state is usually a smaller unit within a country.

Opposites

Commonly confused: border state or borderline?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “border state”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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