countries

Noun

country (countable and uncountable, plural countries)

1. The territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc.
   • By one o'clock the place was choc-a-bloc. […] The restaurant was packed, and the promenade between the two main courts and the subsidiary courts was thronged with healthy-looking youngish people, drawn to the Mecca of tennis from all parts of the country.1935, George Goodchild, chapter 5, in Death on the Centre Court
2. A large area regarded as distinct from other areas, e.g. because it is inhabited by a specific group of people
   • Basque Country
3. (UK, especially) An area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district.
   • We walk along flat, open country, red dirt and spinifex grass, a few short trees[…].2010 March 7, David Vann, The Observer
   1. (UK, especially) An area of land of indefinite extent or of more or less definite extent in relation to human occupation, especially characterized by its particular physical features, or its suitability for a particular activity or connected with its population (by race, dialect, culture, etc.) or a person, especially a writer, or their works.
      • Thomas Hardy country
4. (uncountable, usually preceded by “the”) A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside.
   • I was borne and brought up in the Countrie, and amidst husbandry[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
5. The inhabitants or people of a district, region, or nation; the populace, the public.
   • a scandal that rocked the country

See all 12 meanings of country