march

1 of 5

noun (1)

: a border region : frontier
especially : a district originally set up to defend a boundary
usually used in plural
the Welsh marches

march

2 of 5

verb (1)

marched; marching; marches

intransitive verb

: to have common borders or frontiers
a region that marches with Canada in the north and the Pacific in the west

march

3 of 5

verb (2)

ˈmärch How to pronounce march (audio)
 imperatively often  in the military ˈhärch
marched; marching; marches

intransitive verb

1
: to move along steadily usually with a rhythmic stride and in step with others
2
a
: to move in a direct purposeful manner : proceed
b
: to make steady progress : advance
time marches on
3
: to stand in orderly array suggestive of marching

transitive verb

1
: to cause to march
marched the children off to bed
2
: to cover by marching : traverse
marched 10 miles

march

4 of 5

noun (2)

1
: a musical composition that is usually in duple or quadruple time with a strongly accentuated beat and that is designed or suitable to accompany marching
2
a(1)
: the action of marching
(2)
: the distance covered within a specific period of time by marching
(3)
: a regular measured stride or rhythmic step used in marching
b
: forward movement : progress
the march of a movie toward the climax
3
: an organized procession of demonstrators who are supporting or protesting something
marchlike adjective

March

5 of 5

noun (3)

: the third month of the Gregorian calendar
Phrases
on the march
: moving steadily : advancing

Examples of march in a Sentence

Noun (1) when it was first built, this castle protected what was then the country's northern march Verb (1) on the west, Maine marches entirely with the state of New Hampshire Verb (2) the band had to practice for hours to be able to march in perfect step bleary-eyed commuters marching off to the train station for the morning commute Noun (2) the march of time
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
On Saline’s first drive, Carr — who nearly had his first throw get picked off — went 6-for-6 for 55 yards as the nine-play, 80-yard march was capped by a 15-yard TD run by Rush. Brad Emons, Detroit Free Press, 25 Aug. 2023 Blake’s grandfather, Jacob Blake Sr., was a prominent minister and civil rights leader in the Chicago area who helped organize a march and spoke in support of comprehensive housing law in Evanston, Ill., days after the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Stephanie Pagones, Fox News, 24 Aug. 2020
Verb
Spotted Cow in hand, Yung Gravy marched hundreds of students from a club to the polls at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wednesday. Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 24 Oct. 2024 The 10-year Treasury yield has been marching higher this week, topping the 4.25% threshold on Wednesday at the high of the session. Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for march 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'march.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English marche, from Anglo-French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German marha boundary — more at mark

Verb (2)

Middle English, from Middle French marchier to trample, march, from Old French, to trample, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German marcōn to mark

Noun (3)

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin martius, from martius of Mars, from Mart-, Mars

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (2)

circa 1572, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (3)

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of march was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near march

Cite this Entry

“March.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/march. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

march

1 of 4 noun
1
: a border region : frontier
2
: a district originally set up to defend a boundary
usually used in plural
the Welsh marches

march

2 of 4 verb
1
: to move along with a steady regular stride especially in step with others
2
: to move in a direct purposeful manner : progress
marcher noun

march

3 of 4 noun
1
a
: the action of marching
b
: the distance covered within a period of time by marching
c
: a regular even step used in marching
2
: forward movement : progress
the march of time
3
: a musical piece with a strong regular rhythm that is suitable to march to

March

4 of 4 noun
: the third month of the year
Etymology

Noun

Middle English March "the third month," from early French march (same meaning), derived from Latin martius "of (the god) Mars"

Word Origin
One of the gods worshipped by the ancient Romans was a war god named Mars. In his honor they named one of the months of the year martius, which means "of Mars" or "belonging to Mars." The Latin martius later became march in early French, and it was from early French that the word came into English.

Medical Definition

march

noun
: the progression of epileptic activity through the motor centers of the cerebral cortex that is manifested in localized convulsions in first one and then an adjacent part of the body
the Jacksonian march of convulsions

More from Merriam-Webster on march

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!