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
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Netherlands right-back Jurrien Timber, who missed two months towards the end of last season because of an ankle injury, is also struggling to be fit.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson wins her 800m semi-final leading home Femke Broeders-Bol of the Netherlands.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Trudy Crielaard, a chemistry teacher who lives near Utrecht in the Netherlands, recalled trying to watch the eclipse in 1999 when clouds obscured the sun’s corona.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Benavente had "never" had so many foreign tourists, including visitors from Belgium, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Germany, she added.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
But Louis XIV persuaded England to switch sides, offering large financial incentives and a promise of territory on mainland Europe once The Netherlands had been conquered.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
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.
