Straits Settlements

Save This Word!

noun (used with a singular or plural verb)

a former British crown colony in SE Asia: included the settlements of Singapore, Penang, Malacca, and Labuan.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby Straits Settlements

straitened, straitjacket, strait-lace, strait-laced, Straits dollar, Straits Settlements, strake, Stralsund, stramash, stramineous, stramonium

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Straits Settlements in a sentence

The vegetation in the Straits Settlements is such as writers on the tropics have made familiar to us.
Where Half The World Is Waking Up|Clarence Poe
In 1867 these settlements were converted into a Crown colony under the name of the Straits Settlements.
A Visit to Java|W. Basil Worsfold
But the opium business is apparently still flourishing in the Straits Settlements.
The Opium Monopoly|Ellen Newbold La Motte
The Malay spoken here is a different dialect to that in use in the Straits Settlements.
Forty Thousand Miles Over Land and Water|Lady (Ethel Gwendoline [Moffatt]) Vincent

Malay is the current language of the Straits Settlements, among the variety of nationalities which gather in their towns.
Forty Thousand Miles Over Land and Water|Lady (Ethel Gwendoline [Moffatt]) Vincent

British Dictionary definitions for Straits Settlements

Straits Settlements

/ (streɪts) /

pl n

(formerly) a British crown colony of SE Asia that included Singapore, Penang, Malacca, Labuan, and some smaller islands

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012