Dorchester

American  

[dawr-ches-ter, -chuh-ster] / ˈdɔrˌtʃɛs tər, -tʃə stər /

noun

1. a town in S Dorsetshire, in S England, on the Frome River: named Casterbridge in Thomas Hardy's novels.

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Dorchester British  

/ ˈdɔːtʃɪstə /

noun

1. Latin name: Durnovaria.  a town in S England, administrative centre of Dorset: associated with Thomas Hardy, esp as the Casterbridge of his novels. Pop: 16 171 (2001)

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Example Sentences

The major motorways that strike west from the capital bypass the county entirely; the trains from London Waterloo to the local station at Dorchester take a leisurely three hours.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

Peter Sellers, 38, was staying at London’s Dorchester hotel when he came across a photograph of Britt Ekland, 21, in the paper.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

She calls him Brooklyn, he calls her Beantown — although Wahlberg, born in Dorchester, is the most Bostonian of all these cops; it doesn’t take an expert to place that accent.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025

The documents will be sold at auction at Duke's of Dorchester on 29 January 2026.

From BBC • Oct. 16, 2025

Report relates that the slave-driver General and his rebel army fortified Dorchester Heights, across the harbor from Boston, in but one March night; and once thus positioned, they commenced shelling the town.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson