Petra

American

[pee-truh, pe-] / ˈpi trə, ˈpɛ- /

noun

an ancient city in SW Jordan: ruined structures carved out of varicolored stratified rock; capital of the Nabataeans and Edomites.

Petra British

/ ˈpiːtrə, ˈpɛtrə /

noun

an ancient city in the south of present-day Jordan; capital of the Nabataean 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

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.

It was eventually sold for $85 million in 2011 to Formula 1 heiress Petra Ecclestone.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 20, 2026

The others are the author’s paternal grandparents, José María and Petra Peña.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

She faces 68th-ranked Peyton Stearns next after her fellow American eased past Croatia's Petra Marcinko 6-2, 7-5.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

On day one of the main draw action at Indian Wells, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was beaten 4-6 6-3 6-4 by France's Varvara Gracheva.

From BBC • Mar. 5, 2025

Not sure he’d heard right, he turned to look for Petra, but she was gone.

From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023