Houston

//ˈh(j)uːst(ə)n// name

name ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A habitational surname. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A male given name transferred from the surname, of mainly American usage. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    A placename:; A large city, the county seat of Harris County, Texas, United States, named after Sam Houston. countable, uncountable

    "Spring in Houston is scalding sidewalks and sun-drunk lovebugs. It’s dead grass and midday thunderstorms. It isn’t the beginning or the end of anything, just a prolonged in-between through dead-end traffic on I-45."

  4. 4
    A placename:; A village in Renfrewshire council area, Scotland. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    A placename:; A town in the Bulkley Valley, British Columbia, Canada. countable, uncountable
Show 18 more definitions
  1. 6
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Winston County, Alabama. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; A city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; A small town in Perry County, Arkansas. countable, uncountable
  4. 9
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; A small town in Kent County, Delaware. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Suwannee County, Florida. countable, uncountable
  6. 11
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Heard County, Georgia. countable, uncountable
  7. 12
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; A township in Adams County, Illinois. countable, uncountable
  8. 13
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Salt Creek Township, Jackson County, Indiana. countable, uncountable
  9. 14
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; A small city and township in Houston County, Minnesota. countable, uncountable
  10. 15
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; A small city in and one of the two county seats of Chickasaw County, Mississippi. countable, uncountable
  11. 16
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; A small city, the county seat of Texas County, Missouri. countable, uncountable
  12. 17
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in York County, Nebraska. countable, uncountable
  13. 18
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Union County, North Carolina. countable, uncountable
  14. 19
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Loramie Township, Shelby County, Ohio. countable, uncountable
  15. 20
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; A borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania. countable, uncountable
  16. 21
    A placename:; Other places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Wayne County, Tennessee. countable, uncountable
  17. 22
    A placename:; Ellipsis of Houston County. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
  18. 23
    The Johnson Space Center, the NASA Mission Control complex located in Houston, Texas. countable, metonymically, uncountable

    "Houston, we've had a problem here."

Example

More examples

"Houston, we've had a problem here."

Etymology

Originally from a place near Glasgow, from the Middle English equivalent of "Hugh's town". Analyzable as Hugh + -s- + -ton

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.