conterminous United States

[ kuhn-tur-muh-nuhs yoo-nahy-tid steyts ]

noun

, (used with a singular verb)

1. an official designation for the 48 states, plus the District of Columbia, that occupy an unbroken block of territory, which does not include the states of Alaska and Hawaii. Compare continental United States ( def ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of conterminous United States¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

In weighing the impact climate change is having on flooding, researchers from the Geological Survey and Austria's Vienna University of Technology analyzed records from 345 stream gauges in the conterminous United States from 1940 to 2013.

From Reuters

The authors found that algae has the potential to replace up to 48 percent of fuel imports for transporation—but that level of production would require vast amounts of fresh water and land: 5.5 percent of the land area in the conterminous United States and nearly three times the water currently used for irrigated agriculture.

From Forbes

On 28 April, almost two million people in the United States will take part in the Great Central US Shakeout by responding as if a large earthquake had taken place in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which 200 years ago produced the strongest historical quakes in the conterminous United States.

From Nature

The eastern timber wolf was classed as an endangered species in the conterminous United States in 1967 under the Endangered Species Act of 1966.

From Project Gutenberg