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

Inside the new dome, the chimney of reactor four is a haunting ruin, coated with a crude grey concrete shell, under the shiny metal dome tall enough to house the Statue of Liberty.

From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026

"Breaking: Statue of Liberty reportedly spotted swimming back across the Atlantic. Said she 'preferred the original terms and conditions,'" it quipped, referring to the statue France gave the United States in the 19th century.

From Barron's • Jan. 23, 2026

It is now seeing customers return for exclusive toys like Statue of Liberty Funko Pops, as well as experiences.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 21, 2025

His left arm is tattooed in homage to his roots, with a French flag hanging from the Statue of Liberty.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 13, 2025

When he was done misquoting the poem on the Statue of Liberty, the youngest, Fifi, asked if she could blow out the candle, and Mami said only after everyone had made a wish.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez