United Nations
Americannoun
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(used with a singular verb,) the United Nations an international organization, with headquarters in New York City, formed to promote international peace, security, and cooperation under the terms of the charter signed by 51 founding countries in San Francisco in 1945, and since then by many more countries. UN, U.N.
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(used with a plural verb) the nations that signed the joint declaration in Washington, D.C., January 2, 1942, pledging to employ full resources against the Axis powers, not to make a separate peace, etc.
noun
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UN. an international organization of independent states, with its headquarters in New York City, that was formed in 1945 to promote peace and international cooperation and security
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(in World War II) a coalition of 26 nations that signed a joint declaration in Jan 1942, pledging their full resources to defeating the Axis powers
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The Korean War was officially fought by the United Nations against North Korea.
The United Nations was formed after World War II as a successor to the League of Nations and has served as a forum for many international disputes, notably the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Cuban missile crisis. It also engages in peacekeeping operations by sending lightly armed detachments of soldiers from neutral nations to supervise cease-fires between combatants. Through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), it provides aid for those uprooted by war or famine.
The headquarters of the U.N. are in Manhattan. Some of its affiliates, however, are centered elsewhere. The International Court of Justice sits in The Hague. UNHCR is headquartered in Geneva, and UNESCO in Paris.
A twenty-eight nation coalition of United Nations member states opposed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. (See Persian Gulf War.)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That collaboration helped support the establishment of the International Day of the Mediterranean Diet through the United Nations.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026
The potential dangers have also attracted attention from governments and international organizations, including the UK Government Office for Science and the United Nations Secretary General's Scientific Advisory Board.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
The United Arab Emirates nominated a former deputy foreign minister, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
The United Nations says around 800,000 people can no longer receive lifesaving aid and more than 250,000 have been displaced, after an informal ceasefire collapsed in the summer.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Years earlier, with advice and assistance from the World Health Organization, a branch of the United Nations, Peru had embarked on a nationwide program of TB diagnosis and treatment.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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