southeast

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The intercardinal point of the compass midway between south and east, at a bearing of precisely 135°.

   Hold the compass flat and turn slowly until the arrow points to the southeast.

   A cold wind reached them from the southeast, chilling everyone on deck.

   Oppositenorthwest

   Note

   An old compound rather than a modern coinage: Old English sūþēast simply joined south and east, and Middle English southest carried it forward. The order never varies, south before east, and the word is written solid, without a hyphen or space. Its opposite across the compass is northwest, the point directly behind you when you face southeast.

2. 2
   adverb

   In a southeasterly direction; toward the point midway between south and east.

   From the hilltop, the river winds southeast toward the open sea.

   They marched southeast for three days before making camp.

   Similarsoutheastward, southeastwards

   Oppositenorthwest, northwestward

   Note

   Two jobs share one adverb. After a verb of motion it names a heading: we are heading southeast, the road runs southeast. With be and of, it fixes one place against another instead: Valencia is southeast of Madrid. It usually resists comparison. More southeast is possible, but the bare form normally carries the whole meaning.

3. 3
   adjective

   Situated toward the southeast, or lying or moving in the direction of the southeast.

   Sunlight fills the southeast rooms first thing in the morning.

   The captain held the ship on a southeast heading until the coast came into view.

   Similarsoutheasterly, southeastward

   Oppositenorthwest, northwesterly

4. 4
   adjective

   Relating to or located in the southeastern part of a region or country; southeastern.

   The southeast coastline draws tourists throughout the summer.

   Several southeast dialects share features the northern ones lack.

   Similarsoutheastern

   Oppositenorthwestern, northwest

   Note

   Mostly a plain label rather than a gradable quality: a place is southeast or it is not, so comparison is unusual. Still, more southeast and most southeast do turn up when one location is weighed against another. It sits directly before its noun, as in a southeast camp perimeter, and alternates freely with southeastern.

5. 5
   adjective

   Coming from the direction of the southeast, as a wind does; southeasterly.

   The southeast gusts carried the smell of the marsh inland.

   Fishermen read the southeast swell as a sign of changing weather.

   Similarsoutheasterly

   Oppositenorthwest, northwesterly

   Note

   Winds take their names from where they start, so a southeast wind blows toward the northwest. That puts this sense at odds with the "toward the southeast" meaning: a southeast course heads southeast, while a southeast wind arrives from there. The noun usually settles it. Wind, gale and swell pull toward this reading, and course, heading and route pull toward the other.

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