Poland
Americannoun
noun
Discover More
In 1952, Poland became a people's republic on the Soviet model.
During World War II, about six million Poles, including three million Jews (see also Jews), died from German massacres, starvation, and execution in concentration camps such as Auschwitz.
Poland joined NATO in 1999.
Poland was a great power from the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries, but in the eighteenth century it was partitioned three times among Austria, Prussia, and Russia. It was again recognized as an independent state in 1919.
In 1989, Solidarity-backed candidates swept to victory in free elections, but Solidarity subsequently declined sharply as a political force.
The Solidarity movement, which demanded greater worker control in Poland, emerged in the early 1980s as one of the first signs of popular discontent with single-party rule and the communist economic system.
The invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 precipitated World War II.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 2006, Poland finished the tournament as the fifth-best third-place side with three points and a -2 goal difference.
From BBC • Jun. 14, 2026
Treasury sources indicated to the BBC the chancellor had been looking at ways to fund defence with countries aside from the Canadian suggestion, including discussions with Poland about a "Multi-Lateral Defence Mechanism".
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
Forster was born in a village near Gdansk, in a German-speaking region of what today is Poland.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
However, countries closer to Russia such as Poland, Norway and Germany have ramped up spending faster than others.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
Many of the newer immigrants from eastern European countries like Poland and Lithuania were relegated to the ramshackle houses just west of the Union Stock Yard in the neighborhood aptly called Back of the Yards.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.