Meaning & use
district
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Meanings
nouncountable
An area of a city, region, or country that is officially defined for administrative purposes.
Grammar: Countable; often used with 'school', 'business', 'historic': a school district.
Patterns
- a school district
- a business district
- a historic district
She lives in a quiet residential district.
The business district is crowded during the day.
They visited the historic district of the old town.
nouncountable
A part of a country or region that has its own local government or particular characteristics.
Grammar: Countable; often used with 'rural', 'mountain', 'coastal': a rural district.
Patterns
- a rural district
- a mountain district
- a coastal district
The lake district is famous for its beautiful scenery.
He grew up in a poor rural district.
The coastal districts were hit by the storm.
Word forms
| plural | districts |
|---|
Common combinations
- school district
- The school district hired new teachers.
- business district
- The business district is full of offices.
- historic district
- We walked through the historic district.
- residential district
- They live in a quiet residential district.
- rural district
- The rural district has few shops.
Synonyms and how they differ
- neighborhood
- Neighborhood is an informal, lived area without official boundaries, while district often has official borders.
- area
- Area is a general word for any space; district suggests a defined region within a larger place.
- region
- Region is larger and often geographical, while district is smaller and often administrative.
- zone
- Zone is used for areas with a special purpose (like a no-parking zone), while district is more about administration or character.
Word family
- districted adjective
- Divided into districts (rare).
Commonly confused: district or strict?
district vs strict
Strict means severe or demanding; district is a noun for an area.
Practice
The city council created a new _____ to improve local schools.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a noun for an administrative area, so 'district' is correct. 'Strict' is an adjective, 'distinct' means separate, and 'distraction' means something that takes attention away.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “district”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.