Statue of Liberty

American  

noun

1. a large copper statue, on Liberty Island, in New York harbor, depicting a woman holding a burning torch: designed by F. A. Bartholdi and presented to the U.S. by France; unveiled 1886.

2. Also called Statue of Liberty play.  Football. a play in which a back, usually the quarterback, fakes a pass, and a back or end running behind him takes the ball from his upraised hand and runs with it.

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Statue of Liberty British  

noun

1. Official name: Liberty Enlightening the World.  a monumental statue personifying liberty, in New York Harbor, on Liberty Island: a gift from France, erected in 1885

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Statue of Liberty Cultural  

1. A giant statue on an island in the harbor of New York City; it depicts a woman representing liberty, raising a torch in her right hand and holding a tablet in her left. At its base is inscribed a poem by Emma Lazarus that contains the lines “Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Frederic Bartholdi, a Frenchman, was the sculptor. France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States in the nineteenth century; it was shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in sections and reassembled. The statue was overhauled and strengthened in the 1980s.

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For many immigrants who came to the United States by ship in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Statue of Liberty made a permanent impression as the first landmark they saw as they approached their new home.

Example Sentences

France's air force acrobatics team staged a flyover of the Statue of Liberty on Tuesday, part of commemorations for the upcoming 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence.

From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026

Millett also asked whether anything could be done if the government decided, for example, to demolish the Statue of Liberty.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

And in a section about advances in structural engineering, the museum presents one of its signature possessions—the 1878, 9-foot-high forerunner model of the Statue of Liberty.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 10, 2026

Current US passports depict scenes from the country's history, such as the Moon landing, along with American symbols like the Statue of Liberty.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

Alex had heard the Statue of Liberty was gone.

From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer