Caribbean
Americanadjective
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of or relating to the islands or region of the Caribbean Sea, or to its inhabitants.
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of or relating to the Carib people.
noun
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the Caribbean Sea.
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the Caribbean, the islands and countries of the Caribbean Sea collectively.
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a native or inhabitant of a Caribbean country.
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a Carib.
adjective
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of, or relating to, the Caribbean Sea and its islands
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of, or relating to, the Carib or any of their languages
noun
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the states and islands of the Caribbean Sea, including the West Indies, when considered as a geopolitical region
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short for the Caribbean Sea
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a member of any of the peoples inhabiting the islands of the Caribbean Sea, such as a West Indian or a Carib
Usage
Caribbean is used as a plural noun (a candidate favored by Caribbeans ), but it's relatively rare as a singular noun (the candidate who is a Caribbean ).
Other Word Forms
- inter-Caribbean adjective
Etymology
Origin of Caribbean
First recorded in 1650–60; from New Latin Carib(b)aeus, adjective formed from New Latin plural noun Caribes, from Spanish and Portuguese singular noun caribe Carib ( def. ); cannibal ( def. ), caribe ( def. )
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.
Leave aside, for now, the attacks in the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.
From Los Angeles Times
The DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel this summer wrote a separate legal justification for the administration’s strikes on vessels allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Before sanctions tightened, only about a third of Venezuelan exports went to the U.S., with the rest flowing to China, India, Europe, and the Caribbean.
From Barron's
The United States says it has seized two tankers linked to Venezuelan oil exports in "back-to-back" operations in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean.
From BBC
The Caribbean islands that it later sold to the U.S. were partly purchased from France in 1733.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
