county seat

noun

: a town that is the seat of county administration

Examples of county seat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The fire is burning in south-central Calaveras County in the foothills beneath San Andreas, the county seat, and New Hogan Lake. — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 5 Aug. 2026 In the southeastern corner of North Carolina, a small county seat with strong community ties is on the rise. — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 7 July 2026 The village soon became the center of business and political life – even becoming the county seat over Sanford, which as a port city was more consequential. — Ryan Gillespie, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 July 2026 Ukiah, home to about 16,000 residents, is the county seat of Mendocino County. — Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 24 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for county seat

Word History

First Known Use

1803, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of county seat was in 1803

Rhymes for county seat

See All Rhymes for county seat

Browse Nearby Words

county school
county seat
county sessions
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“County seat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/county%20seat. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

county seat

noun
: a town that is the seat of county administration
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All