Carolina

American

[kar-uh-lahy-nuh, kah-raw-lee-nah] / ˌkær əˈlaɪ nə, ˌkɑ rɔˈli nɑ /

noun

a former English colony on the Atlantic coast of North America: officially divided into North Carolina and South Carolina in 1729.
North Carolina or South Carolina.
a city in northeast Puerto Rico, southeast of San Juan.
Also called the Carolinas. North Carolina and South Carolina.

Carolina British

/ ˌkærəˈlaɪnə /

noun

a former English colony on the E coast of North America, first established in 1663: divided in 1729 into North and South Carolina, which are often referred to as the Carolinas

"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

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.

Back to Charlotte, North Carolina they'll go on Thursday; battered and dazed, uncertain of their future in this tournament, if they have one.

From BBC • Jun. 25, 2026

Chicago selected North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson fourth, completing an elite quartet of players at the top of the draft.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2026

"It is a pretty aggressive grower," Hans Paerl, a professor of marine and environmental sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told the magazine.

From Barron's • Jun. 21, 2026

My wife and I started an annual scholarship for high school students in rural North Carolina going into a trade school, and the trade school helped us set it up.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 20, 2026

But they beat the British in a fight down in South Carolina.

From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023