slave state

noun

1
: a state of the U.S. in which slavery was legal until the Civil War
2
: a nation subjected to totalitarian rule

Examples of slave state in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The two-per-state rule was also believed to be necessary to get the smaller states to sign on to the finished product—though Madison did not see this rule as a benefit to the slave states, which is how it is sometimes interpreted. Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024 Women in slave states had legal rights to property that was half of the wealth in the southern United States at the time. Trevon Logan, The Conversation, 10 June 2024 The United States no longer allowed importation of slaves from Africa or elsewhere, but there were no laws against interstate movement of enslaved people from slave states in the Upper South like Maryland and Virginia to Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana in the Deep South. Mary Ann Ashcraft, Baltimore Sun, 8 Feb. 2024 People from Missouri came from the east, hoping in vain to create another slave state like their own. Will Daniel, Fortune, 15 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for slave state 

Word History

First Known Use

1809, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of slave state was in 1809

Dictionary Entries Near slave state

Cite this Entry

“Slave state.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20state. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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