Definitions

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

  • adjective Situated toward the west.
  • adjective Coming or being from the west.
  • noun A storm or wind coming from the west.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having a generally westward direction; proceeding or directed mainly toward the west: as, a westerly current or course; the westerly trend of a mountain-chain.
  • Situated toward the west; lying to the westward: as, the westerly parts of a country.
  • Looking toward the west: as, a westerly exposure.
  • Coming from the general direction
  • To the westward; in a westerly direction.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to the west; toward the west; coming from the west; western.
  • adverb Toward the west; westward.

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

  • adjective Situated in the west.
  • adjective of wind Coming from the west.
  • adverb Towards the west.
  • noun A westerly wind or storm.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb toward the west
  • adverb from the west
  • adjective moving toward the west
  • noun the winds from the west that occur in the temperate zones of the Earth
  • adjective of wind; from the west

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, from wester, western, from Old English westra; see wes-pero- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • We have winds that have switched to the northwest now almost feel westerly, which is kind of pushing the water out and laying down these waves which, about four or five hours ago were curling in here and breaking in here at 10, 12, even 15 feet.

    CNN Transcript Jul 21, 2006 2006

  • What I doubt some is whether the word 'westerly' was there right from the start off of the beginnin '.

    Scattergood Baines Clarence Budington Kelland 1922

  • They flew for several hours in a direction which would have been called "westerly" on the earth; and during the time they were above land, Billie saw no sign of factories, farms, or other forms of industry.

    The Devolutionist and the Emancipatrix Homer Eon Flint 1908

  • 'westerly' appearin 'in all the papers McKettrick's got regardin' this enterprise.

    Scattergood Baines Clarence Budington Kelland 1922

  • "westerly" will come along by-and-by and release you, and, with a staggering press of sail carried to the reliable gale, away you go for the long stretch of a hundred degrees or so eastward.

    The Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World After Sperm Whales Frank T. Bullen 1886

  • Law Number XLIV: Aircraft flight in the 21st century will always be in a westerly direction, preferably supersonic, crossing time zones to provide the additional hours needed to fix the broken electronics.

    Augustine's Laws - and Ares 1 - NASA Watch 2009

  • “Fair westerly breeze, with a promise of stiffening, if Louis predicts correctly.”

    Chapter 25 2010

  • Another week of westerly gales, alternating with brief periods of calm, has elapsed, making a total of six weeks off the Horn.

    CHAPTER XXXIX 2010

  • After passing through, much colder air invaded the East and, with westerly gales buffeting the Great Lakes, lake-effect blizzard conditions ensued:

    Weather leading up to the Civil War 2011

  • The citizens of West Yorkshire may be ambivalent about north, south and even east Leeds, but the fact that this festival is now in its seventh year shows that there is a lot of love out there for the westerly parts of the city.

    This week's new events 2011

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