Meaning of country in English:

country

Pronunciation /ˈkʌntri/

See synonyms for country

Translate country into Spanish

nounplural noun countries

1A nation with its own government, occupying a particular territory.
‘the country's increasingly precarious economic position’
- ‘Spain, Italy, and other European countries’
- ‘It is more than four times what all the European Union countries together spend on arms.’
- ‘He also wants European states to slash aid to the poor countries that refugees flee from.’
- ‘In some ways it seems like a better option for some countries to turn to democracy.’
- ‘We had not yet been able to find the way to overcome this obstacle to the revolution in our countries.’
- ‘It is common for towns and cities in different countries to twin with each other.’
- ‘Does a common hatred of a third country reduce the chance of war between two countries?’
- ‘In more and more countries around the world output is now stalling, if not falling.’
- ‘I love watching the news in other countries just to see how little coverage we get.’
- ‘This will reduce the range of cheap drugs available to African and other countries.’
- ‘It seems that there are a few differences in public domain laws in different countries.’
- ‘They are fearful that they will follow in the local district courts around the country.’
- ‘While he is right about the sale and price of milk, all of this milk is not coming from outside the country.’
- ‘It was possible for an Australian writer to get that kind of attention outside of the country.’
- ‘It was shocking to me how many people came from outside the country to give him support.’
- ‘It seems like everyone you talk to is keeping their eyes open for a job opportunity outside of the country.’
- ‘The four-bedroomed property is in a suburb of the country's capital Colombo.’
- ‘With the reunification of Germany, Berlin became once again the capital of the country.’
- ‘The rest of the country might perceive areas like the Lake District to be prosperous.’
- ‘The technology has been so successful that they say it is likely to be copied in other urban areas across the country.’
- ‘The Government should take action and start thinking about how the country looks on the outside.’
- ‘Most of the evacuees have been taken on buses to the various states outside the country.’
- ‘Taking a cross-section of the country would reveal an urban versus rural spilt.’
- ‘Many mangrove forest areas along the country's coast have been converted into fish farms.’
state, nation, sovereign state, kingdom, realm, territory, province, principality, palatinate, duchy, empire, commonwealth
homeland, native land, native soil, fatherland, motherland, mother country, country of origin, birthplace
View synonyms
1. 1.1the countryThe people of a nation.
  ‘the whole country took to the streets’
  ‘Let's leave motorists alone and concentrate on the many other problems within the borough and the country as a whole.’
  ‘Incentives and discipline work together to secure a desirable outcome for the country as a whole.’
  ‘Over the past 12 months, the country as a whole has seen a series of appalling incidents involving guns.’
  ‘Football, and I would argue the country as a whole, is a little less colourful for the loss of one of it's greatest men.’
  ‘I cannot avoid the conclusion that the country's whole political class has, thus far, failed it.’
  ‘Actually, The paoer's attitude to celebrities reflects the country as a whole.’
  ‘Eight of our GCSE candidates were awarded one of the top 5 marks in the whole of the country.’
  ‘How does England's stunning rugby World Cup victory affect the country as a whole?’
  ‘Rangers should be relieved but the country as a whole should be mortified to be portrayed in this way.’
  ‘Within the country as a whole though, the antipathy towards the party baffles me.’
  ‘It seemed the whole of the country was there in one form or another.’
  ‘The morale of the army only reflected that of the country as a whole.’
  ‘But he or she needs to be seen to have the support of the country as a whole, as well as the goods to do the job.’
  ‘Education is so important, important for the country as a whole, not just the individual.’
  ‘In theory the whole of the country could be represented at a meeting of the Estates.’
  ‘In a recent national poll she was voted as one of the country's most popular women - second only to the Queen.’
  ‘On the Monday the country enjoyed a public holiday to celebrate the Queen's Birthday.’
  ‘Many argue this would keep the country moving while suitable public transport alternatives are worked out.’
  ‘He feels the story is relevant in the context of communal tensions the country is facing now.’
  ‘The rest of the country has had its collective voice ignored for too long - we must be heard!’
  people, public, general public, population, populace, community, citizenry, nation, body politic, collective
  View synonyms
2often the countryDistricts and small settlements outside large urban areas or the capital.
‘the airfield is right out in the country’
- ‘a country lane’
- ‘Then he said they had died in a gun battle with soldiers on a country road outside the capital.’
- ‘Shoppers, workers and students we spoke to complained of the country roads outside the town.’
- ‘It is vitally important that the people here are united in this thrust to depopulate the country area.’
- ‘It is about time the country areas got their fair share of the road grants.’
- ‘You hear everywhere that they are calling out for more nurses and definitely for the country area.’
- ‘The affairs of the town, the country and the outside world meant little to them.’
- ‘The objective evidence that the violence from the GIA are mainly confined to the country areas.’
- ‘Wireless technology is the cheapest and easiest means of connecting the country to the outside world.’
- ‘We race through Urus-Martan, a large central Chechen settlement, and rocky country lanes.’
- ‘A campaign group has been launched in an attempt to stop people dying on the country lanes of the region.’
- ‘The three of us speed off out of Nottingham, through the centre of Derby, and out onto the country lanes beyond.’
- ‘So I went to the country for the weekend - that's the countryside, those large stretches of verdant open land between the towns and cities.’
- ‘The French, it is claimed, have now rediscovered family life, love and liberty, and hairdressers called Madame Niki can close on a Friday and go to the country.’
- ‘He had gone to the country just before Christmas and was believed to be staying for a month.’
- ‘The Empress went to the country for the day with her son and left me in charge.’
- ‘We went to the city, but we also went to the country… it's so pretty out there.’
countryside, green belt, great outdoors
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3mass noun An area or region with regard to its physical features.
‘a tract of wild country’
- ‘It is a wild and woolly country which drew me in and one that continues to find new ways to embrace me.’
- ‘But his true appeal lies in his own personal evocation of wild country.’
- ‘It was a wild, rugged country that used horses and carts for transport and grew wheat in their fields.’
- ‘Moldova is on a fertile plain with small areas of hill country in the center and north.’
- ‘Perhaps a verdant temperate country with beautiful wild flowers and cute native animals?’
- ‘They spend the summer in wild country, haunting the great flows of Sutherland.’
- ‘She had gone to bathe before she prepared for a long and wearying journey across wild country.’
- ‘This opens up a fine panorama of the surrounding hill country, with peak upon peak now in sight.’
- ‘Everyone else involved is to spend a winter in the high country with the wild brumbies.’
- ‘The book focuses on Gippsland's high country and the long history of the area.’
- ‘For a dry, desert country the greenery in this area makes for a striking contrast.’
- ‘Miles and miles of razor wire and guards and forests, then really broken land, very hard country.’
terrain, land, territory, parts
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1. 3.1A region associated with a particular person, work, or television programme.
  ‘an old mansion in Stevenson's ‘Kidnapped’ country’
  ‘A farming family in Herriot country is offering death with dignity for all creatures great and small.’
  ‘Once you arrive at D.H. Lawrence Country you can begin to enjoy the Lawrence countryside which he referred to as ‘The Country of my Heart’.’
  ‘This area is also famous as Macbeth Country, and the The Birnam Wood, made famous by the witches' prophesy in Shakespeare's MacBeth, is on the south bank of the River Tay.’
4
short for country music

Phrases

across country

Not keeping to roads.
‘their route was across country, through fields of corn’
- ‘We looped off the road and went again across country.’
- ‘And really, he wants to date her, so he agrees to take her kids in a road trip across country.’
- ‘Two-thirds of it will be on roads and the rest across country.’
- ‘So it made the drive easier if not slightly disturbing since he was used to women talking up a storm on a road trip across country.’
- ‘Most people came down the motorway or across country, they found their way and were impressed with the facilities.’
- ‘‘As Brits, we would have benefited from a bigger challenge across country,’ he says.’
- ‘Whether you're packing to go for a walk to the park or your planning a trip across country, when your travelling with toddlers packing poses a problem.’
- ‘More than a dozen highly contagious and potentially lethal diseases can be spread by horses, hounds, and hunt followers as they race across country.’
- ‘She was forced to struggle in severe weather and in darkness across country to seek assistance in a highly distressed state and suffering from hypothermia.’

go to the country

British

Test public opinion by dissolving Parliament and holding a general election.
‘the prime minister had been due to go to the country by November’
- ‘Not since the Labour's longest suicide note in 1983 has a political party gone to the country with such an incredible economic policy.’
- ‘What political party has ever gone to the country with such a feeble platform?’
- ‘In today's Independent on Sunday newspaper a poll of 110 Labour backbenchers showed only 45% openly in favour of going to the country on May 3.’
- ‘The delayed date still leaves him open to criticism from farmers, country dwellers and the Opposition for going to the country while the disease continues its strong grip on the nation.’
- ‘He should begin negotiations now with the European Central Bank, and go to the country with a clear policy, a firm commitment and a united government.’
- ‘By a cruel irony, the decisive moment will probably have come on the afternoon of May 3 - the very day when he originally planned to go to the country.’
- ‘If only he had been able to go to the country when he wanted, instead of having to wait nearly 12 agonising months.’
- ‘Haughey went to the country after the opposition rejected government compensation proposals for haemophiliacs, which they said were too low.’
- ‘Our party believes we are having a positive role in Government, working step by step to implement policies that we went to the country on.’
- ‘Supposing that I had gone to the country and said that Germany was rearming and that we must be armed, does anyone think that our pacific democracy would have rallied to that cry?’

one's line of country

British

A subject in which one is skilled or knowledgeable.
‘anagrams are not in my line of country’
- ‘At the same time we're being encouraged to publish stuff in hard copy in journals, refereed journals and refereed books, which is my line of country.’
- ‘‘Funny that, I had someone who shares your line of country in during the week,’ said Bob.’
- ‘Certainly it is not in the line of country that your Honour was talking about.’