United States

American  

[yoo-nahy-tid steyts] / yuˈnaɪ tɪd ˈsteɪts /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. Official Name United States of America.  a federal republic in the northern Western Hemisphere comprising 48 contiguous states, the District of Columbia, Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the North Pacific, and in some contexts considered along with its five inhabited island territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, North Mariana Islands,American Samoa ). Conterminous United States, 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,465 square kilometers); with Alaska and Hawaii, 3,796,742 square miles (9,833,517 square kilometers); all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the island territories, 3,805,927 square miles (9,857,306 square kilometers) Washington, D.C. U.S., US

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Other Word Forms

• anti–United States adjective
• pro–United States adjective

Etymology

Origin of United States

First recorded in 1600–10, in reference to the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and in 1770–80 for the United States of America ( def. )

Example Sentences

Afghans who worked alongside US troops during almost two decades of war were once promised a home in the United States to shelter them from the extremist intolerance of the Taliban.

From Barron's

The acoustic guitar “doesn’t just provide a musical accompaniment to the social and political history of the United States,” as Mr. Stubbings says, but “is at its heart.”

From The Wall Street Journal

In his introduction he states that he wanted “an anthology that would tell a story about American poetry, and about the United States, through the poetry of The Atlantic.”

From The Wall Street Journal

In a brief court filing late Thursday, lawyers for the administration wrote that "Defendants hereby appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit."

From Barron's

Negotiators from Ukraine and its European allies will hold a new meeting with US officials in the United States on Friday on Kyiv's war with Russia, said top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov.

From Barron's