Australia

[ aw-streyl-yuh ]

/ ɔˈstreɪl yə /

Save This Word!

noun

a continent southeast of Asia, between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. 2,948,366 square miles (7,636,270 square kilometers).

Commonwealth of Australia, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, consisting of the federated states and territories of Australia and Tasmania. 2,974,581 square miles (7,704,165 square kilometers). Capital: Canberra.

COMPARE MEANINGS

Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby Australia

Austin friar, austr-, austral, Australasia, Australasian, Australia, Australia Current, Australia Day, Australian, Australiana, Australian Alps

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Australia in a sentence

The company also operates in Australia, and has about 800,000 members overall.
Online wine sales continue to grow, but can they — or should they — replace local shops?|Dave McIntyre|February 26, 2021|Washington Post
This week, we have two outstanding values in red wines — an affordable merlot from Tuscany and a splurge-worthy mataro from Barossa in Australia.
An unexpected merlot from Tuscany surprises with complex flavors — and a $15 price tag|Dave McIntyre|February 26, 2021|Washington Post
The good news is there is still time for radical improvement if Australia wants to keep pace with their major allies and trading partners.
'If This Task Was Urgent Before, It’s Crucial Now.' U.N. Says World Has 10 Months to Get Serious on Climate Goals|Aryn Baker|February 26, 2021|Time
The service is also expected to launch in Nordic countries within a few weeks and in Australia sometime later this year.
Paramount+ will carry new Star Trek series Strange New Worlds and Prodigy|Samuel Axon|February 25, 2021|Ars Technica

In this recording – taken in Sherbrooke Forest, in Victoria, Australia – a throng of several species of songbirds have aggregated into a noisy mob in response to a threat.
A single male lyrebird can mimic the sound of an entire flock|Jake Buehler|February 25, 2021|Science News
He did travel to China and Australia while the story was unfolding.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting|Ruben Navarrette Jr.|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A variety of systems were in place across countries like the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.
Propaganda, Protest, and Poisonous Vipers: The Cinema War in Korea|Rich Goldstein|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Dwarf mistletoe is freaky, freaky, freaky stuff,” says David Watson, an ecologist at Charles Sturt University in Australia.
Mistletoe is the Vampire of Plants|Helen Thompson|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In 1996, Bourjerdi was granted political asylum and went to Australia as a refugee.
The Sydney Astrologer Turned Islamic Radical|Jacob Siegel|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As a cafe in Sydney, Australia came under siege by a hostage-taking gunman on Monday, those nearby attempted to flee the area.
In Defense of Uber’s Awful Sydney Surge Pricing|Olivia Nuzzi|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He is dancing on an outcrop (that means a ledge of rock) in the middle of Australia at six o'clock before breakfast.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
Description of the shoals and reefs in the neighbourhood of the coasts of Australia.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
Finally, we left Australia on the 9th of June, four months after our first landing on its sunny shores.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
The goldfields of Australia are historic, and the silver, lead and zinc mines of Broken Hill deserve particular mention.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
Its habitat in Australia is known to extend as wide as twenty-four degrees of latitude, and twenty-six degrees of longitude.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King

British Dictionary definitions for Australia

Australia

/ (ɒˈstreɪlɪə) /

noun

a country and the smallest continent, situated between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific: a former British colony, now an independent member of the Commonwealth, constitutional links with Britain formally abolished in 1986; consists chiefly of a low plateau, mostly arid in the west, with the basin of the Murray River and the Great Dividing Range in the east and the Great Barrier Reef off the NE coast. Official language: English. Religion: Christian majority. Currency: dollar. Capital: Canberra. Pop: 23 029 674 (2013 est). Area: 7 682 300 sq km (2 966 150 sq miles)

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

Cultural definitions for Australia

Australia

Nation occupying the whole of Australia, the smallest continent, between the Indian Ocean and the southwest Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney.

notes for Australia

The first settlements there were penal colonies for British convicts.

notes for Australia

Its aboriginal tribes, which still exist today (see aborigines), are thought to have migrated from Southeast Asia twenty thousand years ago.