Uruguay

American  

[yoor-uh-gwey, -gwahy, oo-roo-gwahy] / ˈyʊər əˌgweɪ, -ˌgwaɪ, ˌu ruˈgwaɪ /

noun

1. a republic in southeastern South America. 72,172 sq. mi. (186,925 sq. km). Montevideo.

2. a river in southeastern South America, flowing from southern Brazil along the boundary of eastern Argentina into the Río de la Plata. 981 miles (1,580 km) long.

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Uruguay British  

/ ˈjʊərəˌɡwaɪ /

noun

1. a republic in South America, on the Atlantic: Spanish colonization began in 1624, followed by Portuguese settlement in 1680; revolted against Spanish rule in 1820 but was annexed by the Portuguese to Brazil; gained independence in 1825. It consists mainly of rolling grassy plains, low hills, and plateaus. Official language: Spanish. Religion: Roman Catholic majority. Currency: peso. Capital: Montevideo. Pop: 3 324 460 (2013 est). Area: 176 215 sq km (68 037 sq miles)

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Uruguay Cultural  

1. Republic on the east coast of South America, tucked between Brazil to the north and east and Argentina to the west. The capital and largest city is Montevideo.

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Discover More

It is a major producer of beef, leather, and wool.

Uruguay was under a repressive and violent military government from 1973 to 1985.

Other Word Forms

• Uruguayan adjective
• anti-Uruguayan adjective
• pro-Uruguayan adjective

Example Sentences

Bioinformatic analysis by collaborator Daniela Megrian from the Institut Pasteur in Montevideo, Uruguay, helped clarify how the CorMR system came to be.

From Science Daily • Apr. 20, 2026

It was also a reminder to England manager Thomas Tuchel before the World Cup after Gibbs-White was left out of the 35-man squad last month for games with Japan and Uruguay.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

The England manager watched his side labour for goals without captain and record goalscorer Harry Kane during last month's friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

I go for him ahead of Manchester City's Phil Foden, whose season has lost momentum at club level and who struggled when he started in the friendly against Uruguay at Wembley.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

There were kids from Uruguay and Korea who had just learned English but were doing extra credit for the current events stuff in Intro to Wall Street, reading Barron’s and Crain’s Business Daily.

From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini