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native

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(someone's) native soil

The country or geographical area in which someone was born and/or raised. Though I've spent most of my adult life in London, it's always nice to return to my native soil of Shanghai, if even for just a few days.

See also: native, soil

go native

to become like the people who have lived in a place for a long time Brian moved to Los Angeles seven years ago, and I think he's finally gone native.

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go native

  (humorous)

if you say that someone living in a foreign country has gone native, you mean that they have lost some of their own character because they have started to behave like the people in that country After a month in Egypt he went native, swapping his linen suit for a pair of wide trousers and a loose tunic.

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go native

Adopt another people's way of life, especially that of a culture from a less developed country. For example, Ben's decided to go native, sleeping in a hammock and eating all kinds of strange foods . This expression is closely associated with the often contemptuous view British colonists had of indigenous peoples. [c. 1900]

See also: native