North America

American  

noun

1. the northern continent of the Western Hemisphere, extending from Central America to the Arctic Ocean. Highest point, Denali, 20,300 feet (6,187 meters); lowest, Death Valley, 276 feet (84 meters) below sea level. About 9,360,000 square miles (24,242,400 square kilometers).

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North America British  

noun

1. the third largest continent, linked with South America by the Isthmus of Panama and bordering on the Arctic Ocean, the N Pacific, the N Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. It consists generally of a great mountain system (the Western Cordillera) extending along the entire W coast, actively volcanic in the extreme north and south, with the Great Plains to the east and the Appalachians still further east, separated from the Canadian Shield by an arc of large lakes (Great Bear, Great Slave, Winnipeg, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario); reaches its greatest height of 6194 m (20 320 ft) in Mount McKinley, Alaska, and its lowest point of 85 m (280 ft) below sea level in Death Valley, California, and ranges from snowfields, tundra, and taiga in the north to deserts in the southwest and tropical forests in the extreme south. Pop: 332 156 000 (2005 est). Area: over 24 000 000 sq km (9 500 000 sq miles)

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North America Cultural  

1. Third-largest continent (after Asia and Africa), comprising Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America.

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Other Word Forms

• North American
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of North America

First recorded in 1680–90

Example Sentences

In North America, nine of those cars will start under $40,000, the company said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026

Mexico will be "the point of convergence, the platform for the European Union and North America to come together," he said.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

Ford Energy secured a five-year agreement with EDF Power Solutions North America for up to 20 gigawatt hours of battery storage.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

Central defenders Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa look certain to make the plane to North America, while Harry Maguire's international recall in March will increase the Manchester United man's hopes of a place.

From BBC • May 21, 2026

Not just because it was a place where the living gathered, but because for a few minutes at a time they could see all the world, not just their little corner of North America.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland