New Mexico

American  

noun

1. a state in the southwestern United States. 121,666 sq. mi. (315,115 sq. km). Santa Fe. NM (for use with zip code), N. Mex., N.M.

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New Mexico British  

noun

1. Abbreviation: N. Mex..   NM.  a state of the southwestern US: high semiarid plateaus and mountains, crossed by the Rio Grande and the Pecos River; large Spanish-American and Indian populations; contains over two-thirds of US uranium reserves. Capital: Santa Fé. Pop: 1 874 614 (2003 est). Area: 314 451 sq km (121 412 sq miles)

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New Mexico Cultural  

1. State in the southwestern United States bordered by Colorado to the north, Oklahoma and Texas to the east, Texas and Mexico to the south, and Arizona to the west. Its capital is Santa Fe, and its largest city is Albuquerque.

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An important center of Native American culture and home to Navajo reservations.

Center of the Los Alamos Research Center, where the atomic bomb (see also atomic bomb) was developed.

Other Word Forms

• New Mexican adjective

Example Sentences

Offering loans when others wouldn’t is the most common argument predatory lenders make to justify their practices, said Nathalie Martin, a University of New Mexico law professor who has studied high-cost loans.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026

On Tuesday, the social-media company lost a landmark trial in New Mexico for failing to protect young people from online dangers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

Others see the sea change as less a legal tsunami than a tidal cultural shift — one jurors in New Mexico and California are riding, not speaking into existence.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 28, 2026

In its wake, Meta spokesman Andy Stone posted to social media that the New Mexico penalty was "just a fraction of what the State sought".

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

The first time it conked out, we were still an hour shy of the New Mexico border.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls