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

Europe and South America picked up the front-page story.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

It also reinforces the importance of South America for the study of the origin and diversification of major groups of terrestrial vertebrates.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026

Zhang hopes to export 40,000 bikes to Europe in 2027, while rival manufacturer Shineray sells 90 percent of its low-end models to South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026

They include Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, as well as most other countries in Central and South America.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Kerling insisted that he didn't think the mission was going to be a success and wanted to escape to South America, where the Nazis were "running the show."

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple