Alaska

American  

[uh-las-kuh] / əˈlæs kə /

noun

1. a state of the United States in northwestern North America. 586,400 sq. mi. (1,519,000 sq. km). Juneau. AK (for use with zip code), Alas.

2. Gulf of Alaska, a gulf of the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of southern Alaska.

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Alaska British  

/ əˈlæskə /

noun

1. Abbreviation: Alas.   AK.  the largest state of the US, in the extreme northwest of North America: the aboriginal inhabitants are Inuit and Yupik; the earliest White settlements were made by the Russians; it was purchased by the US from Russia in 1867. It is mostly mountainous and volcanic, rising over 6000 m (20 000 ft), with the Yukon basin in the central region; large areas are covered by tundra; it has important mineral resources (chiefly coal, oil, and natural gas). Capital: Juneau. Pop: 648 818 (2003 est). Area: 1 530 694 sq km (591 004 sq miles)

2. the N part of the Pacific, between the Alaska Peninsula and the Alexander Archipelago

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Alaska Cultural  

1. State in northwesternmost North America bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north; Yukon, Canada, to the east; the Pacific Ocean to the south; and the Bering Sea to the west. Its capital is Juneau, and its largest city is Anchorage.

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Discover More

The forty-ninth state, admitted in 1959, and the largest.

Other Word Forms

• Alaskan adjective

Compare meaning

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

• Alaska vs. Hawaii

Example Sentences

She writes editorials, as well as the weekly Potomac Watch political column, from her base in Alaska.

From The Wall Street Journal

Wildfires on Alaska's North Slope were more intense during the past century than at any point in the last 3,000 years, according to new research published in the journal Biogeosciences.

From Science Daily

Were the U.S. to replace that Danish grant, that alone would make the island’s residents the largest per capita recipients of federal grants, surpassing denizens of Alaska or Washington, D.C.

From The Wall Street Journal

She lives in Alaska with her three children.

From The Wall Street Journal

American Indian and Alaska Native people now have the highest cancer death rates in the country, with deaths from kidney, liver, stomach and cervical cancers about double that of white Americans.

From Los Angeles Times