congo
noun
congo
1 American
[kong-goh]
/ ˈkɒŋ goʊ /
noun
Congo
2
American
[kong-goh]
/ ˈkɒŋ goʊ /
noun
-
Formerly Middle Congo. Formerly French Congo,. People's Republic of the Congo, a republic in central Africa, west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 132,046 sq. mi. (341,999 sq. km). Brazzaville.
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Democratic Republic of the Congo. Formerly Zaire. Belgian Congo. Congo Free State. Democratic Republic of the Congo, a republic in central Africa. 905,568 sq. mi. (2,345,410 sq. km). Kinshasa.
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Also called Zaire. Congo River, a river in central Africa, flowing in a great loop from southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Atlantic. About 3,000 miles (4,800 km) long.
Congo
British
/ ˈkɒŋɡəʊ /
noun
-
Former names: Congo Free State. Belgian Congo. Congo-Kinshasa. Zaïre. a republic in S central Africa, with a narrow strip of land along the Congo estuary leading to the Atlantic in the west: Congo Free State established in 1885, with Leopold II of Belgium as absolute monarch; became the Belgian Congo colony in 1908; gained independence in 1960, followed by civil war and the secession of Katanga (until 1963); President Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in 1965; declared a one-party state in 1978, and was overthrown by rebels in 1997. The country consists chiefly of the Congo basin, with large areas of dense tropical forest and marshes, and the Mitumba highlands reaching over 5000 m (16 000 ft) in the east. Official language: French. Religion: Christian majority, animist minority. Currency: Congolese franc. Capital: Kinshasa. Pop: 75 507 308 (2013 est). Area: 2 344 116 sq km (905 063 sq miles)
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another name for Congo-Brazzaville
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Former Zaïrese name (1971–97): Zaïre. the second longest river in Africa, rising as the Lualaba on the Katanga plateau in the Democratic Republic of Congo and flowing in a wide northerly curve to the Atlantic: forms the border between Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Length: about 4800 km (3000 miles). Area of basin: about 3 000 000 sq km (1 425 000 sq miles)
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a variant spelling of Kongo
Other Word Forms
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.
See Examples For:
The tracks contain a cross pattern, a reference to the African dikenga, also known as the congo cosmogram, a chart that symbolizes the cycle of life from birth to the realm of the ancestors.
From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2023
Pedrito Martinez The Havana-born congo player and vocalist and his Afro-Cuban jazz ensemble perform songs from his recent album “Acertijos” in a concert filmed in November at Manhattan’s 92nd Street Y. 4:30 p.m.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2020
That day led to the Last Poets’ revelatory, self-titled 1970 debut of vitriolic black power poems spoken over the beat of a congo drum.
From The Guardian ● May 18, 2018
He takes notes on a small pad as she ticks off her weekly menu: chicken bouillon Mondays, fish and rice Fridays, pwa congo whenever the pigeon peas are harvested.
From Washington Post
The congo is merely the exact reproduction of the dress worn by workers on the plantations.
From Two Years in the French West Indies by Lafcadio Hearn
The Democratic Republic of Congo government and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group have agreed a roadmap for peace talks.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
The Ebola virus has spread across Democratic Republic of Congo at a frightening speed and one of the authorities' biggest fears is that it reaches the teeming capital of Kinshasa.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
The U.S. has made similar overtures in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the continent’s leading copper producer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is moving faster than any previous epidemic of the disease and risks spreading to more countries, the head of the World Health Organization warned Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
I have only the haziest recollection of waving at my mother and sister in a rising cloud of diesel exhaust and mosquitoes as they began their slow, permanent exodus from the Congo.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
