United States

American  

[yoo-nahy-tid stayts] / 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

To investigate what was causing the disease, the research team collected affected mushrooms from several production facilities across the southern United States.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

Excavators have swung into action, clearing forest and farmland on the southeast coast for the $15 billion construction of Google's largest data centre outside the United States.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

Michael Che returned to the execution controversy, joking that the Pentagon’s proposed livestream would mark the first public execution in the United States since “a couple of weeks ago,” drawing groans from the audience.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

"A few months after the photographs were published I received a letter out of the blue from the United States Embassy in London," he recalled.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Aunt Maud was the worst baker in the United States.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck