Great Britain

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noun

an island of NW Europe, separated from the mainland by the English Channel and the North Sea: since 1707 the name has applied politically to England, Scotland, and Wales. 88,139 sq. mi. (228,280 sq. km).

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THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Compare United Kingdom.

Words nearby Great Britain

Great Bear, Great Bear Lake, Great Belt, Great Bend, great blue heron, Great Britain, great bustard, great circle, great-circle sailing, great-circle track, greatcoat

How to use Great Britain in a sentence

This plunges Great Britain into a crisis the likes of which it has not been plunged into since “Brexit.”
Dave Barry’s Year in Review 2020|Dave Barry|December 27, 2020|Washington Post
Sharpe had read about the growing opposition to slavery in Great Britain and knew it was time to act, and on a large scale.
Jamaica’s Christmas Slave Uprising|Sean Braswell|December 23, 2020|Ozy
He was partly educated in Great Britain, partly in South Africa.
The Mild-Mannered Poet Who Championed James Bond|Fiona Zublin|November 30, 2020|Ozy
As they stopped on Farah—who, despite now being a Nike athlete, was required by United Kingdom Athletics to wear the Adidas sponsored jersey of Great Britain—held his palms up behind his ears, as a way of saying Let’s hear it!
Inside a secret running program at Nike and a win-at-all-costs corporate culture|Rachel King|October 6, 2020|Fortune

They were at it long before anyone in Egypt or Great Britain.
Let’s learn about mummies|Bethany Brookshire|July 8, 2020|Science News For Students
This would be by the 1704 “Act of Union” with Great Britain, which passed the Scottish Parliament by a vote of 110 to 69.
Up to a Point: A Free Scotland Would Be a Hilarious Disaster|P. J. O’Rourke|September 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Or would they resist taking the same risks over Poland or even Great Britain?
Les Gelb Puts Russia in Its Place—and Critics in Theirs|Leslie H. Gelb|April 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Plus, he crafted the Lyons-Seward Treaty, joining the U.S and Great Britain in suppressing the international slave trade.
P.J. O’Rourke: Orwell Was Right|P. J. O’Rourke|March 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Who should get the most credit for ending slavery in America and Great Britain?
How Blacks Freed Themselves from Slavery|Eric Herschthal|February 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I still want to win an Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016 for Great Britain.
Olympian Tom Daley: I’m Bisexual|Nico Hines|December 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Hence it was that he found in Great Britain an implacable enemy ever stirring up against him European coalitions.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
As regards Great Britain, the gold standard is yet preserved for all practical purposes.
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips
Spencer Perceval, prime minister of Great Britain, shot in the lobby of the house of commons.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
Great Britain is full of wealth, not entirely but mainly because her people are constantly producing.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
The gauge of railways in Great Britain was not fixed upon any scientific principle.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow

British Dictionary definitions for Great Britain

Great Britain

noun

England, Wales, and Scotland including those adjacent islands governed from the mainland (i.e. excluding the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands). The United Kingdom of Great Britain was formed by the Act of Union (1707), although the term Great Britain had been in use since 1603, when James VI of Scotland became James I of England (including Wales). Later unions created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1922). Pop: 57 851 100 (2003 est). Area: 229 523 sq km (88 619 sq miles)See also United Kingdom

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