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

See Examples For:

South America

Gardiner, a physiotherapist from Manchester, travelled across South America with her son Sam in the second series of the BBC show, which aired in 2020.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

North America and South America are at a record-low burn since 2012.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

In November, ZZ Top will close out the Big One tour with eight performances across Mexico and South America.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Last week, he traveled to South America, where the federation leaders reaffirmed that they stood behind him—even as revelations about Infantino’s personal life began to surface in the British press.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

The Beagle rounded the sharp jaw-bend of Tierra del Fuego and climbed the western coast of South America.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee