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English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of local in English

local
adjective
uk
/ˈləʊ.kəl/ us
/ˈloʊ.kəl/
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B1
from, existing in, serving, or responsible for a small area, especially of a country:
a local accent
local issues
a local newspaper/radio station
Most of the local population depend on fishing for their income.
Our children all go to the local school.
Many local shops will be forced to close if the new supermarket is built.
limited to a particular part of the body:
a local anaesthetic
local swelling
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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Towns & regions: environments & localities
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local
noun [ C ]
uk
/ˈləʊ.kəl/ us
/ˈloʊ.kəl/

local noun [C] (PERSON)

C2
a person who lives in the particular small area that you are talking about:
The café is popular with both locals and visitors.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
People who live or settle somewhere
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local noun [C] (PUB)

UK
a pub near to where a person lives, especially if they often go there to drink:
The George is my local.
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Selling & serving alcoholic drinks
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local noun [C] (VEHICLE)

US
a train or bus that makes all or most of the stops along its route, allowing passengers to get on or off:
the 12.24 local to Poughkeepsie
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Railways: trains & parts of trains
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local noun [C] (ORGANIZATION)

US
a division within a union representing people from a particular area
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Industrial relations
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(Definition of local from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

local | American Dictionary

local
adjective [ not gradable ]
us
/ˈloʊ·kəl/

local adjective [not gradable] (AREA)

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from, existing in, or serving a particular place or small area:
the local population
the local newspaper
local phone calls
local government
medical Local also means limited to a particular part of the body:
a local anesthetic

localize

verb [ I/T ] us
/ˈloʊ·kəˌlɑɪz/
[ I ] The infection seems to have localized in the foot.

locally

adverb [ not gradable ] us
/ˈloʊ·kə·li/
locally grown vegetables
local
noun [ C ]
us
/ˈloʊ·kəl/

local noun [C] (VEHICLE)

a train or bus that stops at all or most of the places on its route where passengers can get on or off

local noun [C] (AREA)

a person who lives in the particular small area you are talking about:
If you’re lost and need directions, just ask one of the locals.
(Definition of local from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

local | Business English

local
adjective [ usually before noun ]
uk
/ˈləʊkəl/ us
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from or connected with a particular area:
The importation of goods from the United States has reduced growth in the local market.
US firms pay bonuses in dollars, in contrast to European rivals which tend to pay in local currency.
a local business/company/firm He has a four-month contract fixing computers at a local company.
This is a hugely serious problem at the local level, and we need to do something about it.

See also

locally
domestic
local
noun [ C ]
US
uk
/ˈləʊkəl/ us
a part of an organization, especially a union (= workers' organization), representing people from a particular area:
The local in Oakland and Macomb has nearly 4,000 members.
(Definition of local from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of local

local
There is a very real need for this, since locals have a taste for both turtle meat and eggs.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Diverging opinions on who started the war - locals or strangers, leaders or commoners - are an intriguing aspect of later accounts of the uprising.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Recent studies have started to examine the tensions between partition-refugees and locals.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The pharmaceutical and agrochemical corporations, for their part, look for ways to avoid paths that imply negotiating with the locals.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Firms in the villages were no longer necessarily owned by locals, as was usually the case before.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
There are many very specific, detailed entries and predictably these will appeal to locals.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In bad weather, convicts had to spend the night in nomad tents erected by the locals, in caravansaries, or in empty huts.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
During the week, however, it still attracts a neighbourhood crowd, giving him access to a sampling of locals.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Other locals were called on to act as a witness or as a legal representative of one of the spouses.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Only rarely have these wages enabled locals to make substantial capital investments in land or productive machines.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
At this point there was a great push to hire locals for positions that could not be filled immediately by international staff.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The locals, 'almost all of whom belonged to the most humble social rank', were not people with whom communication was possible.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
What are the motivations of those involved in a dispute which pits the" locals" against the others?
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In many borderland villages, social boundaries between locals and exchangees persisted, together with negative views about the other group.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The coins in question here were those currently in circulation in the region and used in sales transactions by locals.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
See all examples of local
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
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Translations of local

in Chinese (Traditional)
當地的，本地的, 局部的，部分的, 人…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
当地的，本地的, 局部的，部分的, 人…
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in Spanish
local, del barrio, vecino…
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in Portuguese
local, de bairro, morador…
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in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Telugu
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
स्थानिक, तुम्ही बोलत आहात त्या विशिष्ट छोट्या भागात राहणारी व्यक्ती.…
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地元の, 地元の人々, 地元（じもと）の…
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yöresel, bölgesel, mahallî…
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local/-ale, local, du quartier…
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local, del barri, veí…
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plaatselijk…
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ஒரு சிறிய பகுதியிலிருந்து, குறிப்பாக ஒரு நாட்டில் இருக்கும், சேவை செய்யும் அல்லது பொறுப்பானவர்களிடமிருந்து…
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स्थानीय, लोकल, स्थानीय व्यक्ति…
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સ્થાનિક…
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lokal, stedlig…
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lokal, orts-…
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tempatan…
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Orts-……
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lokal, lokal-, på stedet…
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مقامی, مقامی باشندہ…
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місцевий…
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స్థానిక/ చిన్న ప్రాంతం, ప్రత్యేకించి ఒక దేశంలో, ప్రస్తుతం ఉన్న…
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স্থানীয়…
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místní…
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lokal…
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ประจำท้องถิ่น…
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địa phương…
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miejscowy, miejscow-y/a…
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현지의, 현지…
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locale, residente, persona del luogo…
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local
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local anesthetic
local area network
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UK
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past simple and past participle of overwhelm

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