Spanish-American War

American

noun

the war between the U.S. and Spain in 1898.

Spanish-American War British

noun

the war between the US and Spain (1898) resulting in Spain's withdrawal from Cuba and its cession of Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico

"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

Spanish-American War Cultural

A war between Spain and the United States, fought in 1898. The war began as an intervention by the United States on behalf of Cuba. Accounts of Spanish mistreatment of Cuban natives had aroused much resentment in the United States, a resentment encouraged by the yellow press (see yellow journalism). The incident that led most directly to the war was the explosion of the United States battleship Maine in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, an incident for which many Americans blamed Spain (see Remember the Maine). The United States won the war easily. The best-remembered incidents in the Spanish-American War were the charge of the Rough Riders, led by Theodore Roosevelt, in the Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba, and the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines, at which Admiral George Dewey said, “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.” The United States acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines in the war and gained temporary control over Cuba.

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The victory of the United States in the Spanish-American War made the country a world power, with territories spread across the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Hawaii, which had been an independent kingdom, was annexed by the United States in the same period.

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.

Puerto Rico was first colonized by the Spanish from 1493 until 1898, the year that the United States occupied the country as part of the Spanish-American War.

From Los Angeles Times

The U.S. wouldn’t take control of Cuba until 1898 and the Spanish-American War— Remember the Maine!—when the U.S. also claimed Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and more.

From Barron's

Often, land purchases have been part of peace treaties, such as when the U.S. bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million after the Spanish-American War of 1898.

From The Wall Street Journal

Roosevelt served for a year as an occasionally insubordinate assistant secretary of the Navy, then resigned at the start of the Spanish-American War to co-found the First U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal

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