North America

noun

1. 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

noun

1. 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)

North America

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

Other Word Forms

• North American adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of North America¹

First recorded in 1680–90

Example Sentences

Looking back on the barnstorming trip, Fouts said, “The fact that we played in the first game outside of North America, that is a source of pride.”

From Los Angeles Times

The festival has become a reliable launching pad for films in North America, particularly those looking to enter the Oscar race.

From Los Angeles Times

But by the time the final group - her mother and father, and her three siblings - made the trip, politics in North America had shifted.

From BBC

In other research, scientists have found that the last 25 years have probably been the driest in at least 1,200 years in western North America.

From Los Angeles Times

She has summited North America's highest mountain, Denali, and South America's Aconcagua, as well as 25 Alpine peaks higher than 4,000m.

From BBC