Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A state whose electorate votes in roughly equal measure for Republican and Democratic candidates in a statewide election.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US (idiomatic) Somewhat whimsical synonym for swing state. (In the modern United States) a state that may support the Democratic or Republican Party (purple states, states that vote for Democratic or Republican Party in general, being red states in some given elections and blue states in other given elections).

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[On the model of blue state and red state.]

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