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United Nations

[yoo-nahy-tid ney-shuhnz]

noun

  1. (used with a singular verb,),  the United Nations an international organization, with headquarters in New York City, formed to promote international peace, security, and cooperation under the terms of the charter signed by 51 founding countries in San Francisco in 1945, and since then by many more countries. UN, U.N.

  2. (used with a plural verb),  the nations that signed the joint declaration in Washington, D.C., January 2, 1942, pledging to employ full resources against the Axis powers, not to make a separate peace, etc.



United Nations

noun

  1. UNan international organization of independent states, with its headquarters in New York City, that was formed in 1945 to promote peace and international cooperation and security

  2. (in World War II) a coalition of 26 nations that signed a joint declaration in Jan 1942, pledging their full resources to defeating the Axis powers

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

United Nations

  1. An organization that includes virtually all countries in the world, with nearly 190 member nations. Its General Assembly, in which each member nation has one vote, guides policies and finances generally. Another important division of the United Nations is the Security Council, in which five powerful nations have a majority; the Security Council is charged with solving crises and keeping peace. The United Nations also includes an Economic and Social Council; a Secretariat, or administrative division; and the International Court of Justice, or World Court. It also is allied with several agencies that operate independently, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

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The Korean War was officially fought by the United Nations against North Korea.
The United Nations was formed after World War II as a successor to the League of Nations and has served as a forum for many international disputes, notably the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Cuban missile crisis. It also engages in peacekeeping operations by sending lightly armed detachments of soldiers from neutral nations to supervise cease-fires between combatants. Through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), it provides aid for those uprooted by war or famine.
The headquarters of the U.N. are in Manhattan. Some of its affiliates, however, are centered elsewhere. The International Court of Justice sits in The Hague. UNHCR is headquartered in Geneva, and UNESCO in Paris.
A twenty-eight nation coalition of United Nations member states opposed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. (See Persian Gulf War.)
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Compare Meanings

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

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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 a report, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said Friday that foreign direct investment in the first six months of the year was down 3% on 2024.

The United Nations and other agencies have documented the killings.

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said they had arrested several fighters accused of committing abuses during the capture of the city of El-Fasher, as the United Nations said "horror is continuing" in the Darfur region.

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The police raid has drawn condemnation from human rights organizations, and the United Nations has called for an investigation.

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Over the course of the conflict, the United Nations has repeatedly called on member states to "refrain from any external interference" but to no avail.

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