British Isles

American  

plural noun

1. a group of islands in W Europe: Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and adjacent small islands. 120,592 sq. mi. (312,300 sq. km).

---

British Isles British  

plural noun

1. a group of islands in W Europe, consisting of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Orkney, Shetland, the Channel Islands belonging to Great Britain, and the islands adjacent to these

---

British Isles Cultural  

1. The islands of Great Britain and Ireland and a number of smaller islands off their coasts.

---

Example Sentences

Although the comet reached peak brightness on April 22, 1066, it was not visible in Brittany and the British Isles until April 24.

From Science Daily • May 13, 2026

Oral traditions linked them to famine, war, and the deaths of kings throughout the British Isles.

From Science Daily • May 13, 2026

But the British Isles have "astonishing scenery" and "extraordinary animal dramas and wildlife spectacles to match anything I have seen on my global travels", he said.

From BBC • May 8, 2026

Guernsey has 167 plant species rare in the British Isles and 34 species are found in fewer than 25 locations.

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

By the time Victoria was seventeen, and Tristran also, she was in all probability, he was certain, the most beautiful girl in the British Isles.

From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman