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ghetto definition

ghetto (get′ō)

noun pl. ghettos -·tos or ghettoes -·toes

  1. in certain European cities, a section to which Jews were formerly restricted
  2. any section of a city in which many members of some minority group live, or to which they are restricted as by economic pressure or social discrimination

Etymology: It, lit., foundry (< gettare, to pour < VL *jectare, for L jactare, to throw, cast), name of a quarter in Venice occupied by Jews, orig. location of a cannon foundry

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

ghetto Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • escape: I didn't want to escape the disability ghetto only to lock myself into a virtual ghetto.

Adjective modifier

  • urban: These are no mean street kids, desperate for cash in an urban ghetto.

Modifies a noun

  • blaster: Indeed, he can't resist slipping a CD of early mixes into a nearby ghetto blaster.

Noun used with modifier

  • city: Like many other small towns in Iowa today, it resembles much more an inner city ghetto than a Norman Rockwell painting.
ghetto usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

ghetto quotes

   I have always disliked the idea of an arts ghetto in which poetry is kept on a life-support system.

-Harrison,Tony

Public radio is a ghetto of good taste.

-Keillor, (Gary Edward) Garrison

ghetto quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"ghetto." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/ghetto>

APA Style

ghetto. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/ghetto

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