United States

American  

[yoo-nahy-tid steyts] / juˈnaɪ tɪd ˈsteɪts /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

1. Official Name United States of America.  a federal republic in the northern Western Hemisphere comprising 48 contiguous states, the District of Columbia, Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the North Pacific, and in some contexts considered along with its five inhabited island territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, North Mariana Islands,American Samoa ). Conterminous United States, 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,465 square kilometers); with Alaska and Hawaii, 3,796,742 square miles (9,833,517 square kilometers); all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the island territories, 3,805,927 square miles (9,857,306 square kilometers) Washington, D.C. U.S., US

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Other Word Forms

• anti–United States
  adjective
• pro–United States
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of United States

First recorded in 1600–10, in reference to the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and in 1770–80 for the United States of America ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

United States

Before this discovery, every confirmed Diplodocus specimen had been found in the Morrison Formation of the western United States.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

Nationally, National Transportation Safety Board data show that 16 people have died in eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters in the United States since 2000.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

"These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court," he said.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

The first pontiff from the United States is due to meet seven victims on September 27 in the southwestern town of Lourdes, including a former student at Betharram.

From Barron's

But was preserving the United States worth the deaths of so many, so young?

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock