macao

plural macaos

1. obsoleteObsolete form of macaw (“parrot”).

1. Alternative spelling of Macau:
   1. A city, special administrative region, and peninsula in China, west of Hong Kong

      1 more example

      Hong Kong, once a British colony, was transferred to Chinese rule in 1997. Referring to Hong Kong or Macao or any Chinese territory as anything other than part of China is a major offense to the Chinese government, which sanctions businesses that make the mistake. In the past several months, Gap, Versace, and Coach have all been rebuked by the Chinese government for doing this very thing.

      2019 October 7, Joe Vardon, “Daryl Morey, Joseph Tsai, the NBA and China: Why the repercussions of a tweet are about more than money”, in The Athletic (The Athletic section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2025

   2. historicala former Portuguese colony in modern southern China between 1557 and 1999

      The Portuguese Colony of Macao is situated on a rocky peninsula in the Heung Shan (Fragrant Hills) District in the Kwong Chau Prefecture of the Kwong Tung, or Canton Province, in the south eastern part of the Empire of China.

      1905, J. Dyer Ball, Macao: The Holy City; The Gem of the Orient Earth, China Baptist Publication Society, page 1

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      It would be however a very acceptable thing if ſome curious Navigators would inform us, what tides or Currents are found at Macao, Quemoy, and other places on the Coast of China and on Formoſa ; it being moſt probable that this flood cometh out of the North Eaſt, alongſt the Coaſt of China, for that the Northerly Moonsoon is found to occaſion the higheſt ſpring-tides.

      1684, Edm. Halley, “A Theory of the Tides at the Bar of Tunking”, in Philosophical Transactions, volume XIV, Oxford, →OCLC, page 687

      Macao is a ſmall Iſland in the Bay of Quantung, a Province of China, at a little diſtance from it ; in which is a Town bearing the ſame Name, heretofore the moſt famous and wealthy Mart of the Portugueſes, and granted to them by the Chineſes ; but its Reputation is now a great deal leſs :[...]

      1701, Joan Luyts, Herman Moll, A System of Geography, Part the Second, London, →OCLC, page 52

      Captain King began now to entertain apprehenſions, leſt, in the proſecution of our ſearch for thoſe iſlands, we ſhould get ſo far to the ſouth as to be under the neceſſity of paſſing to leeward of the Pratas ; in which caſe, it might have proved extremely difficult for ſuch bad ſailing veſſels as our to fetch Macao, eſpecially if the wind ſhould continue to blow (as it now did) from the north-north-eaſt and north.

      1784, James Cook, James King, Cook's Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, volume IV, London: John Stockdale, pages 211–213

      The First Lady charged that the Maoists are making use of the Portuguese, through their small enclave of Macao, to carry out trade in drugs that are aimed in enslaving and demoralizing the people of the free world. She said the narcotics trade also is providing Chinese Communist leaders with a major source of revenue for use in carrying out their subversive, revolutionary tactics in other countries.

      1975 March 9, “Mme. Chiang warns against detente”, in Free China Weekly, volume XVI, number 9, Taipei, page 1

      The territory of Macao is made up of a small peninsula on the Chinese coast and two neighboring islands. Located at the mouth of the Pearl River, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) from the Chinese city of Canton, Macao was once a safe harbor for Chinese fishermen.

      1988, T. Jeff Williams, Macao, Chelsea House, page 15