Spanish Main

American  

noun

1. (formerly) the mainland of America adjacent to the Caribbean Sea, especially the area between the mouth of the Orinoco River and the Isthmus of Panama.

2. the Caribbean Sea: the route of the Spanish treasure galleons and a former haunt of pirates.

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Spanish Main British  

noun

1. the mainland of Spanish America, esp the N coast of South America from the Isthmus of Panama to the mouth of the Orinoco River, Venezuela

2. the Caribbean Sea, the S part of which in colonial times was the route of Spanish treasure galleons and the haunt of pirates

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Example Sentences

Some of the areas on the boil-water list were small, like the Spanish Main Travel Resort, an R.V. park in Hillsborough County, on the western side of the state.

From New York Times • Oct. 1, 2022

The West Indies and the Spanish Main By Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope, on the way to the West Indies, does complain rather a lot about such mundane troubles as seasickness and so on.

From Salon • Jun. 25, 2012

One says the looting, another marooning, still another sings the praises of pirate grog, and a fourth insists it’s the Spanish Main.

From Scientific American • Mar. 8, 2012

Later they explored his routes along the Spanish Main, and Professor Morison kept retracing the Caribbean until the war made him stop.

From Time Magazine Archive

So it shall be, and I here proclaim Elizabeth, by the grace of God queen of England, France, and Ireland, queen of Maiden Isle on the Spanish Main.

From With Drake on the Spanish Main by Strang, Herbert