Southwestward for Dummies

Southwestward is a word that gives us directions, just like when someone gives you instructions on how to get somewhere. Imagine you are going on an adventure and you are looking at a map to find your way. Southwestward is a way to describe a direction, specifically how something moves or goes towards the southwest area. So, if you were standing in the middle of a field and someone said, "Go southwestward," they would be telling you to walk or move in the direction that is between the south direction and the west direction, kind of like a diagonal line. It's like taking a step towards the bottom right if you imagine a compass rose.

Let's imagine you and I are taking a road trip together, and we are driving through different states. If we start in the state of Maine (which is in the northeast of the United States) and we want to go to the state of California (which is in the southwest of the United States, near the Pacific Ocean), we would need to drive southwestward. It means we would have to travel in a direction that is somewhere between south and west. We would be moving diagonally across the map, if you can imagine that.

Sometimes, southwestward can also be used to talk about the movement of things that are not physical, like wind or sound. For example, if you were standing outside and you felt a gentle breeze on your face coming from the south, you could say that the wind is blowing southwestward. It means that the wind is moving in a direction that is between straight from the south and straight from the west. It's like the wind is coming from a corner between the south and the west.

In another example, imagine you are at a big football stadium, and all of a sudden you hear a cheer that starts from one side of the stadium and gradually moves towards the other side. You could say that the cheer is spreading southwestward because it is moving in a diagonal direction, kind of like a ripple moving through a pond when you throw a stone in it.

So, to summarize, southwestward means moving or going in a direction that is between the south and the west. It can be used to describe the physical movement of people or objects, like walking, driving, or wind blowing, as well as the spread of intangible things, like sound or energy. It's like taking a step towards the bottom right on a map or in a specific context.