china

plural chinas · alternative China · alternative dialectal chiney · alternative dialectal cheny · alternative dialectal cheney · alternative dialectal chenea · alternative dialectal chainy · alternative dialectal chaney · alternative dialectal chany · alternative dialectal chaynee · alternative dialectal chayney · alternative dialectal cheenie · alternative dialectal cheeny · alternative dialectal chainé

1. uncountableSynonym of porcelain, a hard white translucent ceramic made from kaolin, now (chiefly US) sometimes distinguished in reference to tableware as fine or good china.

   It's a china doll.

   Synonyms: porcelain

2. uncountableChinaware: porcelain tableware.

   The traditional 20th anniversary gift is china.

   3 more examples

   They sell Callicoes, Cheney Sattin, Cheney ware.

   1634, Thomas Herbert, A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, page 41

   ...a Present of certain very rich Pieces of China.

   1653, Henry Cogan translating Fernão Mendes Pinto as The Voyages and Adventures of Fernand Mendez Pinto, p. 206

   He set the table with china, cloth napkins, and crystal stemware.

3. USdateduncountableCheaper and lower-quality ceramic and ceramic tableware, distinguished from porcelain.

   What is porcelain? A fine earthenware differing from china in being harder, whiter, harder to fuse and more translucent than ordinary pottery.

   1921 May 11, “Edison Questions Stir Up a Storm”, in New York Times

4. uncountableSynonym of China root, the root of Smilax china (particularly) as a medicine.

   China, saith Manardus, makes a good colour in the face, takes away melancholy, and all infirmities proceeding from cold […].

   1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 5, member 1, subsection v

   Synonyms: China root

5. obsoleteuncountableSynonym of cheyney: worsted or woolen stuff.

   ...And then the last boon I'll implore, Is to bless us with China so tight...

   1790, Alexander Wilson, Poems, page 55

   Synonyms: cheyney

6. countableSynonym of China rose, in its various senses.

   Rosa indica (the common China); Rosa semperflorens (the monthly China).

   1844, Jane Loudon, The Ladies' Companion to the Flower Garden, 3rd edition, page 344

   Synonyms: China rose

7. AustraliaCockneySouth AfricacountableslangSynonym of mate (rhyme of china-plate).

   All right, me old china?

   2 more examples

   ‘Now, then, my china-plate...’ This is essentially a brick~layer's phrase. If for ‘china-plate’ you substitute ‘mate’,[…] the puzzle is revealed.

   1880, Daniel William Barrett, Life and Work among the Navvies, 2nd edition, page 41

   China, or Old China: chum.

   1925, Edward Fraser et al., Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases, page 53

   Synonyms: mate

8. dateduncountableTea from China, (particularly) varieties cured by smoking or opposed to Indian cultivars.

   Tea... Finest China, Plain (Moning).

   1907, Yesterday's Shopping, page 1

9. UScountableobsoletegamesA glazed china marble.

   The marbles, in those days, had their primitive names. The unglazed china ones were called plasters because they looked like plaster; the glazed china marbles were called chinas. I remember how charming were the partly colored lines which encircled them.

   1932 March, Dan Beard, “New-Fashioned Kites and Old-Fashioned Marbles”, in Boys' Life, page 27

10. countableentertainmentA kind of drum cymbal approximating a Chinese style of cymbal, but usually with Turkish influences.

    China cymbals are a type of short sound cymbal. [Brand X] makes chinas with really short sounds.

    2010, Carmine Appice, Drums for Everyone, page 78

plural Chinas · alternative obsolete Chin · alternative Chyna

1. uncountableusuallyA cultural region and civilization in East Asia, occupying the region around the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers, taken as a whole under its various dynasties.

   China has 5000 years of history.

   3 more examples

   The great China, whose kyng is thought... the greatest prince in the worlde.

   1555, Peter Martyr, translated by Richard Eden, The Decades of the Newe Worlde..., folio 230 verso

   All China is divided into 15 Provinces, which are bigger than large Kingdoms.

   1693, Robert Morden, “Of China”, in Geography Rectified; or a Description of the World, 3rd edition, →OCLC, page 438

   If he tells them to build a palace forty miles long, out of di'monds, and fill it full of chewing gum, or whatever you want, and fetch an emperor's daughter from China for you to marry, they've got to do it—and they've got to do it before sun-up next morning, too.

   1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC

2. uncountableusuallyA large country in East Asia, occupying the region around the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers; the People's Republic of China, since 1949.

   China is 75 years old as of October 1, 2024.

   3 more examples

   'Only a Nixon' Could Go to China

   1971 December 6, “A Size-up of President Nixon: Interview with Mike Mansfield, Senate Democratic Leader”, in US News & World Report, page 61

   2017, Donald J. Trump, speech at Make America Great Again Rally, Harrisburg, PA And I met with the President of China at great length in Florida, and we had long, long talks—hours and hours and hours.

   Saturday’s tariffs are unlikely to be Trump’s last. The president said himself said in the Oval Office that additional tariffs could come by mid-February on chips, pharmaceuticals, steel, aluminum, copper, oil and gas imports – along with tariffs on the European Union – all threats that few would discount given his willingness to follow through on the North American and China tariffs on Saturday.

   2025 February 1, Kevin Liptak, “With stiff tariffs he promised now in place, Trump opens a new trade war”, in CNN, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2025

3. uncountableusuallySynonym of mainland China.

   The gambling winnings were transferred from Macau to China.

   Synonyms: mainland China

4. uncountableusuallyChina in One China, asserting that there is only one de jure Chinese nation

   It will not change the historical and legal facts that there is only one China in the world.

5. historicaluncountableusuallyAny of the empires occupying similar territory to that of the modern nation of China, ruled under various dynasties up through the early 20th century.
6. historicaluncountableusuallyThe Republic of China prior to 1949, and sometimes after that time, particularly up through the early 1970's or so (when the People's Republic of China assumed the United Nations seat allocated to China).
7. rareuncountableusuallyA female given name.

   My name is China Bayles. I'm the owner of Thyme and Seasons and the co-owner, with Ruby Wilcox, of a new tearoom called Thyme for Tea.

   2001, Susan Wittig Albert, chapter 1, in Bloodroot, Berkley Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 3

   1 more example

   'What's her name, this girl?' The fight had hoarsened Lynne's voice, and the words came out strangely staccato - a wooden doll that had just learned to speak. 'China,' he mumbled, feeling an obscure desire to invent a pseudonym for her. 'What an interesting name.' Angus struck the table edge hard. 'Aw, don't gies it.' 'I don't know what you mean. Or is it a nickname? Fragile, is she?'

   2014, Neil D. A. Stewart, The Glasgow Coma Scale, Constable & Robinson, →ISBN, page 159

8. A place in the United States:
   1. uncountableusuallyAn unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Indiana, United States.
   2. uncountableusuallyA town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States.

      The golden baked pâté chinois, a shepherd's pie, uses a recipe brought back to Quebec by miners working in China, Me.

      1991 December 8, Nancy Lyon, “Quebec's Cuisine Has a New Flavor”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC

   3. uncountableusuallyAn unincorporated community in Howell County, Missouri, United States.
   4. uncountableusuallyA hamlet in Delaware County, New York, United States.
   5. uncountableusuallyA small city in Jefferson County, Texas, United States.
9. uncountableusuallyA municipality and town in Nuevo León, Mexico.
10. uncountableusuallyA surname.

plural Chinas · alternative obsolete Chin · alternative Chyna

1. countableuncountableAlternative letter-case form of china: porcelain tableware.
2. countableobsoleteuncountableA Chinese person.
3. alternativecountableobsoleteuncountableAlternative form of cheyney: woollen stuff; items made or filled with cheyney.
4. abbreviationclippingcountableuncountableClipping of China rose, various flowers.
5. abbreviationclippingcountableuncountablebeveragesClipping of China tea.
6. alternativecountableslanguncountableAlternative form of china: a mate, a friend.

1. A town in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.

   The two towns on the island, China (pronounced chee-nah) and Wadomari, along with neighboring Tokunoshima island, each have different dialects.

   2024 August 21, “Linguists rush to preserve rare dialect on remote Kagoshima isle”, in The Asahi Shinbun

   1 more example

   According to the town of China, if all students commuting by motorcycles switched to electric ones, carbon emissions could be reduced to under one-fourth of the current amount.

   2022 December 24, “School on Japan island lends electric scooters to students for eco-friendly, cheap commute”, in The Mainichi