Columbia

American  

[kuh-luhm-bee-uh] / kəˈlʌm bi ə /

noun

1. a river in southwestern Canada and the northwestern United States, flowing south and west from southeastern British Columbia through Washington along the boundary between Washington and Oregon and into the Pacific. 1,214 miles (1,955 km) long.

2. Cape Columbia, a cape on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, in the Arctic Ocean: northernmost point of Canada.

3. a city in and the capital of South Carolina, in the central part.

4. a city in central Missouri.

5. a city in central Maryland.

6. a city in central Tennessee.

7. a city in southeastern Pennsylvania.

8. Literary. the United States of America.

9. one of an American breed of large sheep, developed by crossbreeding the Lincoln and Rambouillet, noted for its good market lambs and heavy fleece of medium length.

10. Aerospace. the first space shuttle to orbit and return to earth.

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Columbia ¹ British  

/ kəˈlʌmbɪə /

noun

1. a river in NW North America, rising in the Rocky Mountains and flowing through British Columbia, then west to the Pacific. Length: about 1930 km (1200 miles)

2. a city in central South Carolina, on the Congaree River: the state capital. Pop: 117 357 (2003 est)

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Columbia ² British  

/ kəˈlʌmbɪə /

noun

1. the first test vehicle of the NASA space shuttle fleet to prove the possibility of routine access to space for scientific and commercial ventures

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Columbia

While 49 states and the District of Columbia have laws or judicial rulings that give journalists varying degrees of legal protection, there is still none at the federal level.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Minnesota; and the University of British Columbia contributed to the work.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026

After fulfilling her contract with the Columbia label, the singer signed last year to Warner Records, where an old high school pal, Tim Hinshaw, oversees a boutique label called Free Lunch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

Gabelli described “private market value with a catalyst” as a philosophical strategy that had been developed and taught by Mario Gabelli at Columbia Business School, and which “compares Buffett’s intrinsic value with a control premium.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

The next day, Candice sat in the front passenger seat of Tori’s red Honda Civic as it crept up Highway 176 toward Columbia.

From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson