Netherlands
Americannoun
noun
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Also called: Holland. Dutch name: Nederland. a kingdom in NW Europe, on the North Sea: declared independence from Spain in 1581 as the United Provinces; became a major maritime and commercial power in the 17th century, gaining many overseas possessions; formed the Benelux customs union with Belgium and Luxembourg in 1948 and was a founder member of the Common Market, now the European Union. It is mostly flat and low-lying, with about 40 per cent of the land being below sea level, much of it on polders protected by dykes. Official language: Dutch. Religion: Christian majority, Protestant and Roman Catholic, large nonreligious minority. Currency: euro. Capital: Amsterdam, with the seat of government at The Hague. Pop: 16 805 037 (2013 est). Area: 41 526 sq km (16 033 sq miles)
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the kingdom of the Netherlands together with the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium, esp as ruled by Spain and Austria before 1581; the Low Countries
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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.
The label has operational headquarters in Santa Monica and corporate headquarters in Hilversum, Netherlands.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
The other winners included Niels, a football fan from the Netherlands, Alix Heugas from France, Jamie from Stroud and two-time champion Ariel Dempsey from Michigan in the United States.
From BBC • May 25, 2026
She visited the Netherlands this month and has been invited to the Ibero-American Summit in Madrid despite European Union sanctions on her.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
In the Netherlands, Radboud University Hospital said Friday it had admitted a patient with a "low suspicion" of Ebola and had put him in isolation pending the result of diagnostic tests.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
The city’s range of colors, its palette, is similar to that of the Netherlands.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
