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

The South Atlantic Anomaly was first identified in the 19th century southeast of South America.

From Science Daily

Lee singled out a memorandum of understanding to boost regulatory cooperation in the health sector, which could ease barriers for K-beauty skincare products shipped to South America.

From Barron's

Brazil is one of South Korea's largest trading partners in South America.

From Barron's

In college he spent summers hitchhiking around South America, hiking to Machu Picchu and mostly ignoring warnings of guerrilla activity.

From The Wall Street Journal

Panama's Ministry of Culture said the discovery was "of great importance for Panamanian archaeology and the study of pre-Hispanic societies of the Central American isthmus," referring to the land that connects North and South America.

From Barron's