How to use canton in a sentence

10 example sentences · noun, verb

Canton means a division of a political unit. Example: “Beyond the limits of the canton, and beyond the known distances, lay mysterious lands that were thought to be dangerous and inhabited by barbarians."”

Examples of canton by meaning

nounA division of a political unit.

These three millions live in a small canton of Egypt which cannot maintain twenty thousand people1912, Joseph McCabe (translator), We Must Take Sides; or, The Principle of Action (originally by Voltaire)

nounAn administrative division within a department in France, often being a subdivision of an arrondissement.

Beyond the limits of the canton, and beyond the known distances, lay mysterious lands that were thought to be dangerous and inhabited by barbarians."2007, Graham Robb, quoting an unnamed writer, “Chapter 2: The Tribes of France, I”, in The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography...

More sentences with canton

The canton is clearly reduced, but not to the status of a mere private corporation.1959, William G[orham] Rice [Jr.], “The Political-legal Frontier”, in Law among States in Federacy: A Survey of Decisions of the Swiss…. From the entry lawfare
Crest a canton gules a sword erect proper, hilted and pommelled or, entwisted with a palm-branch vert.1910, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour, page 406. From the entry entwisted
Nonetheless, the failure to resolve the problems created by the 9 February forced people, and cantons, to consider a new votation.2016, Clive H. Church, Political Change in Switzerland: From Stability to Uncertainty, page 153. From the entry votation
Canton is the regional primate city of Kuangtung.1980, James Chan, “Modern Manufacturing Industries in Kuangtung”, in C. K. Leung, Norton Ginsburg, editors, China: Urbanization and…. From the entry time
Canton flannel was a fabric much used in the time of Crane’s boyhood for sleepingwear, undergarments, even sheets.1972, Leedice Kissane, “Interpretation Through Language: A Study of the Metaphors in Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat””, in Thomas A.…. From the entry sleepingwear
Then I cleaned it thoroughly, oiled, wrapped it in a piece of canton flannel and locked it up.1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 127. From the entry Canton flannel
Vert, a cross treflée (or flory) argent between four open crowns or, in a canton of the second the Blessed Virgin holding the Holy Child proper. (Woodward, Ecclesiastical Heraldry.1927, Notes and Queries, page 82. From the entry treflée
While the cantonal structure in Switzerland largely follows linguistic lines, the predominantly French-speaking Jura had for a long time until recently been a part of the German-speaking canton of Bern.2004, Jan Oskar Engene, Terrorism in Western Europe: Explaining the Trends Since 1950, page 158. From the entry Jura

Meaning of canton

noun A division of a political unit.
noun One of the states comprising the Swiss Confederation.
noun An administrative division within a department in France, often being a subdivision of an arrondissement.

Full definition of canton

Questions about canton in a sentence

How do you use canton in a sentence?: Canton is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Beyond the limits of the canton, and beyond the known distances, lay mysterious lands that were thought to be dangerous and inhabited by barbarians."”
What is a short sentence with canton?: “Canton is the regional primate city of Kuangtung.”
What does canton mean?: Canton means a division of a political unit.

Adapted from Wiktionary: canton (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use canton in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/canton. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.