Synonyms

North America

American

noun

the northern continent of the Western Hemisphere, extending from Central America to the Arctic Ocean. Highest point, Denali, 20,300 feet (6,187 meters); lowest, Death Valley, 276 feet (84 meters) below sea level. About 9,360,000 square miles (24,242,400 square kilometers).

North America British

noun

the third largest continent, linked with South America by the Isthmus of Panama and bordering on the Arctic Ocean, the N Pacific, the N Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. It consists generally of a great mountain system (the Western Cordillera) extending along the entire W coast, actively volcanic in the extreme north and south, with the Great Plains to the east and the Appalachians still further east, separated from the Canadian Shield by an arc of large lakes (Great Bear, Great Slave, Winnipeg, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario); reaches its greatest height of 6194 m (20 320 ft) in Mount McKinley, Alaska, and its lowest point of 85 m (280 ft) below sea level in Death Valley, California, and ranges from snowfields, tundra, and taiga in the north to deserts in the southwest and tropical forests in the extreme south. Pop: 332 156 000 (2005 est). Area: over 24 000 000 sq km (9 500 000 sq miles)

"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

North America Cultural

Third-largest continent (after Asia and Africa), comprising Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America.

Other Word Forms

North American adjective

Etymology

Origin of North America

First recorded in 1680–90

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.

Those most likely to see the phenomenon include observers in parts of North America, South America, East Asia, and Australia.

From BBC

For more than a decade, city officials have been contending with logistical hurdles to turn the busiest passenger rail hub in North America into an entirely new neighborhood.

From The Wall Street Journal

In October, Carter’s said tariffs were dragging down its earnings and that it would close about 150 stores in North America and reduce its office workforce by about 15%, cutting roughly 300 positions.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Brooklyn Mirage became one of the most celebrated dance venues in North America after two ragtag party promoters from Switzerland started hosting dance parties in industrial Brooklyn.

From The Wall Street Journal

In the letter, McAloon questioned the structure of the offer price and how the suitors intended to attribute value between BlueScope’s North America business and its operations elsewhere.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023