east

1. 1
   on a compassnoununcountable

   The compass direction at 90 degrees, toward which the earth rotates and in which the sun rises.

   The town lies about ten miles to the east of the airport.

   A cold wind blew steadily from the east all afternoon.

   UsageUsually used with the, as in from the east or to the east of a place.

   Oppositewest

2. 2
   adjective

   Located in the east, or lying toward the east.

   The east bank of the river floods almost every spring.

   Visitors enter the park through the east gate on Maple Avenue.

   Similareastern

   Oppositewest, western

3. 3
   adverb

   In the direction of the east.

   Turn east at the next light and follow the river into town.

   The storm is moving east and should reach the coast by morning.

   UsageUsed straight after verbs of moving or facing, with no to or the: head east, face east.

   Similareastward, eastwards

   Oppositewest, westward

4. 4
   Asiaproper noun · Eastcountable or uncountable

   The Eastern world: the regions, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere, whose cultures derive from those of Arabia, India, Persia, or China.

   The silks, spices, and porcelain of the East fetched high prices in European ports.

   Many travelers wrote about the East without ever learning a word of its languages.

   UsageWritten the East, with a capital letter and the.

   SimilarOrient

   OppositeWest, Occident

   Note

   Which East is meant depends on the speaker, so context has to say. Set against Europe it is this cultural East, as in a supper that would have fed a whole village in the East; in Cold War talk it is the Soviet camp; and an American out west who moves back East means the eastern states. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • The supper example paraphrases an attested literary passage using East in its cultural sense. gutenberg.org
   • During the Cold War, East could mean the Soviet Union and its socialist allies. en.wiktionary.org
5. 5
   noununcountable

   The eastern part of a country or area, or the people who live in it.

   Rainfall is heaviest in the east, where the hills meet the coast.

   The east wanted the new railroad, while the west wanted lower taxes.

   UsageUsed with the, often the east of a country; written the East, it works as the name of the region.

   Oppositewest

   Note

   The region can stand for the people who live in it, who then act as one body: John Reynolds's My Own Times has the west settling on a penitentiary while "the east agreed to improve the country in their vicinity", a singular noun picked up by a plural their. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • John Reynolds wrote My Own Times. en.wikipedia.org
   • The book describes western residents agreeing to build a penitentiary. en.wiktionary.org
   • The quoted wording is accurate and uses their to refer to the people represented by the east. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   Atlantic USproper noun · Eastcountable or uncountable

   The states in the eastern part of the United States.

   After twenty years in Montana, he moved back East to be near his family.

   Investors from the East poured money into the mining towns of the West.

   UsageUsually the East, but after back or out there is no the: moved back East.

   OppositeWest

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