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

Attorney for the District of Columbia — and former Fox News host — Jeanine Pirro implied in an interview with Peter Doocy, one of the network’s anchors, that she might arrest Karl on vandalism charges.

From Salon • Jun. 24, 2026

Davis, who got his start in Columbia Records’ legal department, could identify original voices and seemed to intuit which songs were likely to become hits.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 22, 2026

Despite the success, he was ousted from Columbia when the company accused him of using company funds to pay for personal expenses, including his son's bar mitzvah.

From BBC • Jun. 22, 2026

At Columbia, Davis decided to sell both versions of the albums at the higher stereo price, $4.79, helping lead to the demise of monaural records.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026

That is what two professors from Columbia University, Sheena Iyengar and Raymond Fisman, have done, and they have discovered that if you make people explain themselves, something very strange and troubling happens.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell