East Indies
Americanplural noun
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Also called the Indies. SE Asia, including East Timor, India, Indonesia, and the Malay Archipelago.
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the Malay Archipelago.
plural noun
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the Malay Archipelago, including or excluding the Philippines
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SE Asia in general
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.
His father, a prisoner of war in the Dutch East Indies, would have likely died in Japanese custody had American forces not swept through the Pacific.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Like China, Indonesia has also tasted World Cup action once before - in 1938, when it competed as the Dutch East Indies, then a colony of the Netherlands.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Football-mad Indonesia participated in the World Cup just once, in 1938, when it was known as the Dutch East Indies, losing 6-0 in the final 16 to Hungary.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Japanese troops occupied Indonesia, then the Dutch East Indies colony, from 1942 until Tokyo surrendered in August 1945.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 18, 2023
To work the colonists’ farms, slaves were soon imported from different corners of the Dutch empire, from West Africa, Madagascar, and the East Indies.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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