Alaska

American  

[uh-las-kuh] / əˈlæs kə /

noun

1. a state of the United States in northwestern North America. 586,400 sq. mi. (1,519,000 sq. km). Juneau. AK (for use with zip code), Alas.

2. Gulf of Alaska, a gulf of the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of southern Alaska.

---

Alaska British  

/ əˈlæskə /

noun

1. Abbreviation: Alas.   AK.  the largest state of the US, in the extreme northwest of North America: the aboriginal inhabitants are Inuit and Yupik; the earliest White settlements were made by the Russians; it was purchased by the US from Russia in 1867. It is mostly mountainous and volcanic, rising over 6000 m (20 000 ft), with the Yukon basin in the central region; large areas are covered by tundra; it has important mineral resources (chiefly coal, oil, and natural gas). Capital: Juneau. Pop: 648 818 (2003 est). Area: 1 530 694 sq km (591 004 sq miles)

2. the N part of the Pacific, between the Alaska Peninsula and the Alexander Archipelago

---

Alaska Cultural  

1. State in northwesternmost North America bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north; Yukon, Canada, to the east; the Pacific Ocean to the south; and the Bering Sea to the west. Its capital is Juneau, and its largest city is Anchorage.

---

Discover More

The forty-ninth state, admitted in 1959, and the largest.

Other Word Forms

• Alaskan
  adjective

Compare meaning

How does alaska compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Alaska vs. Hawaii

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Alaska

Two Senate Republicans — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — have not yet indicated whether they would vote to confirm him.

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026

Trump signed an executive order to boost production in Alaska.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Similarly, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy said he hadn’t yet decided how he was going to vote, and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she was “still deliberating” on her decision.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

Trilogy, a Canadian company with projects in Alaska, operated below its listing price — often as a penny stock — before seeing its shares jump to record highs on the DOD announcement.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

For mammoth and man alike, Alaska was a mere extension of Siberia.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari