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.

“We view technical setbacks and short-term disruptive factors for example weather-related flight cancellations in North America, as entry opportunities given the intact medium-term upside potential,” he adds.

From The Wall Street Journal

Organic sales, a figure that strips out the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and currency effects, rose 2.1%, boosted by volume growth in North America and internationally.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Today’s announcement comes amid sustained momentum for soccer in North America,” the companies said in a joint press release.

From Barron's

Entrust, which has more than 3,100 employees in more than 40 locations across North America, serves the utility and infrastructure end markets.

From The Wall Street Journal

It is a small but hardy and nutritious wild potato that still grows across southwestern North America today, ranging from southern Utah and Colorado into northern Mexico.

From Science Daily

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