country

plural countries · alternative archaic contree · alternative archaic countrey · alternative obsolete contrey · alternative obsolete countre · alternative obsolete countrie · alternative obsolete counterie · alternative pronunciation spelling counthry · alternative derogatory pronunciation spelling cuntry

1. countableuncountableThe territory of a nation; a sovereign state or a region once independent and still distinct in institutions, language, etc.First known use 14th c.

   It is a beautiful country of rolling hills, fertile valleys, and a thousand rivers and streams which keep the landscape green even in winter.

   1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 3

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   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

   But that expropriation of the Third World, [that] has been going on for 400 years, brings us to another revelation: namely, that the Third World is not poor. You don't go to poor countries to make money. There are very few poor countries in this world. Most countries are rich: the Philippines are rich, Brazil is rich, Mexico is rich, Chile is rich; only the people are poor. But there's billions to be made there, to be carved out, and to be taken; there's been billions for 400 years! The Capitalist European and North American powers have carved out and taken the timber, the flax, the hemp, the cocoa, the rum, the tin, the copper, the iron, the rubber, the bauxite, the slaves, and the cheap labour. They have taken out of these countries. These countries are not underdeveloped; they're overexploited!

   1986 April 15, Michael Parenti, 02:53 from the start, in U.S. interventionism, the Third World, and the USSR, Boulder, Colorado

   These days corporate Germany looks rather different. Volkswagen, the country’s leading carmaker, wants to be the world’s biggest by 2018.

   2010, The Economist, 3 Feb 2011

   The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.

   2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2023, page 68

   Most foreigners who have heard of Bhutan know two things: the country charges international visitors a $100/day sustainable development fee (aka tourist tax), and that it is the birthplace of the Gross National Happiness Index, a system intended to look after the well-being of citizens and the environment.

   2024 July 4, Lilit Marcus, “This country has a national happiness index. But what is it really like to live there?”, in CNN, archived from the original on 24 Jul 2024

2. countableuncountableA large area regarded as distinct from other areas, e.g. because it is inhabited by a specific group of people

   Basque Country

3. UKcountableespeciallyuncountableAn area of land of undefined extent; a region, a district.First known use 13th c.

   We walk along flat, open country, red dirt and spinifex grass, a few short trees[…].

   2010 March 7, David Vann, The Observer

   1. UKcountableespeciallyuncountableAn 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

      3 more examples

      Hikers love the wild country that lies northwest of this river confluence.

      Since this was rebel country, checkpoints were set up along the road.

      This is condor country – the only region this far east where you can see the magnificent vulture – and a small national park straddling the passes, El Condorito, is a good stopover for walkers and birders.

      2007 February 17, Chris Moss, The Guardian

4. uncountableusually preceded by “the”A rural area, as opposed to a town or city; the countryside.First known use 16th c.

   I grew up in the country with a 12-gauge shotgun.

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   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

   Joyce Barnaby: You don't kill someone because they made you redundant. DCI Tom Barnaby: Not in the town, dear, but this is the country. And, in the country, anything goes.

   1999 September 12, Anthony Horowitz et al., “Dead Man's Eleven”, in Midsomer Murders

   I have always thought that one of the main reasons for the popularity of blood sports in the country is the pointlessness of going outdoors with no purpose or destination in mind.

   2000 March 4, Alexander Chancellor, The Guardian

   She grew up in Chang-hua, a city in central Taiwan with a decidedly country flavor.

   2006 May, James B. Weld, Difficulties in Learning English as a Second or Foreign Language, Regis University, page 37

5. countableuncountableThe inhabitants or people of a district, region, or nation; the populace, the public.First known use ca. 1300

   a scandal that rocked the country

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   For all the country, in a general voice, Cried hate upon him.

   c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, Act 4, Scene 1, sourced from Open Source Shakespeare, line 2344

6. AustraliacapitalizedcountableuncountableusuallyTraditional lands of Indigenous people with embedded cultural, spiritual, cosmological, ecological, and physical attributes and values.

   What country do you live/work on? I work on Yuggera Yuggarapul country and I'm from Darwin, Larrakia country.

   2021 July 8, The Air Force News, page 16, column 2

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   "Me like my country — no much too hot, no much too cold. By and bye, white fellow come — soldier-man come. White fellow say, this our land, that our land — ALL country our land. Black fellow say no! my country no white fellow's country, and black fellow take spear.

   1842 February 16, The Inquirer, Perth, page 5, column 2

   "Yewi," he said, "me bin longa Fanny Bay gaol five years." On my asking why they put him in gaol he replied. "Australia your country, ain't it?" I replied, "Yes, him my country all right." "Well," he then said, "this my country here. Brinken country other side of the river ain't it?" "That's right," said I. "Well," said Jack, "supposem Japanese come longa this country and you killem, you good man, but suppose Brinken come longa my country here, and I kill him, police man put me longa Fanny Bay for five years. That is the law."

   1945 September 27, The Chronicle, Adelaide, page 35, column 4

   "It demonstrates that having Indigenous people on country managing their lands, delivering environmental benefits for all Australians is an important asset for the national good."

   2008 July 23, The Torres News, page 5, column 1

   Milgin says living on country, with elders, makes Aboriginal people "strong". That's backed up by a 2011 report on Aboriginal homelands by Amnesty International that found that living on homelands was connected to better health outcomes and drug rehabilitation.

   2015 March 11, Calla Wahlquist, “Of three remote communities here, why are only the two Aboriginal ones under threat?”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 07 Oct 2022

7. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of country music.First known use 20th c.

   a country song

   2 more examples

   a country singer

   a country festival

8. countableinformaluncountableThe spirit of the country (rural places): the spirit of country folkways; those folkways.

   You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.

9. countableuncountablebusinessThe rock through which a vein of ore or coal runs.

comparative countrier · comparative more country · superlative countriest · superlative most country · alternative archaic contree · alternative archaic countrey · alternative obsolete contrey · alternative obsolete countre · alternative obsolete countrie · alternative obsolete counterie · alternative pronunciation spelling counthry · alternative derogatory pronunciation spelling cuntry

1. From or in the countryside, connected with it, or typical of it.

   Things around here are just a little more country than what he's used to.

   1 more example

   When this conversation was repeated in detail within the hearing of the young woman in question, and undoubtedly for his benefit, Mr. Trevor threw shame to the winds and scandalized the Misses Brewster then and there by proclaiming his father to have been a country storekeeper.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

2. Of or connected to country music.

   They're mainly a hard rock band, but their new album sounds kinda country to me.

3. IndiaOriginating in India rather than being imported from abroad.

   We have seen that the Company manufactured silk stuffs at three of its Residencies, but from country-wound silk.

   1872, Silk in India, page 16

   2 more examples

   A reference to the Annual Administration Reports of the Department of Horse-breeding Operations […] will allow of the opinion being arrived at, that the breed of country horses under the present regime is steadily improving.

   1884, Journal of the United Service Institution of India, page 185

   Country harness costs nearly as much, lasts half the time, and is in every respect inferior. It is understood that the only reason is that the Court desires to improve and encourage Indian manufactures.

   1937, Brigadier-General H. A. Young, The East India Company’s Arsenals & Manufactories

   Synonyms: native