South America

American  

noun

1. a continent in the S part of the Western Hemisphere. About 6,900,000 sq. mi. (17,871,000 sq. km).

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South America British  

noun

1. the fourth largest of the continents, bordering on the Caribbean in the north, the Pacific in the west, and the Atlantic in the east and joined to Central America by the Isthmus of Panama. It is dominated by the Andes Mountains, which extend over 7250 km (4500 miles) and include many volcanoes; ranges from dense tropical jungle, desert, and temperate plains to the cold wet windswept region of Tierra del Fuego. Pop (Latin America and the Caribbean): 558 281 000 (2005 est). Area: 17 816 600 sq km (6 879 000 sq miles)

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South America Cultural  

1. Continent in the Western Hemisphere, connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama.

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All of the Latin American nations in South America and Central America achieved their independence from Spain or Portugal in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Exploration of the continent began in the sixteenth century with the Portuguese claiming what is now Brazil and the Spanish claiming most of the remaining land. Settlement was accompanied by the defeat of many of the Native American cultures, including the Inca Empire.

Other Word Forms

• South American
  adjective

Example Sentences

A helpful map of the globe points out notoriously treacherous waters, including those off the southern tip of South America, where countless sailors have perished in the turbulent seas around Cape Horn.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Police Chief Jim McDonnell said that many of these residential burglaries are tied to theft rings from South America as well as groups based in South L.A.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026

The company has attractive upstream properties—from South America to the Mediterranean—that it forecasts will generate between 7% to 10% compound annual growth through the end of the decade.

From Barron's • May 19, 2026

There is also a greater chance of drought and wildfires in parts of Australia, Indonesia and the north of South America, leading to a decline in agriculture and global food stocks.

From BBC • May 14, 2026

The closest inhabited land was Cape Horn, at the tip of South America, 600 miles away.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong