Alaska

[ uh-las-kuh ]

noun
  1. a state of the United States in northwestern North America. 586,400 sq. mi. (1,519,000 sq. km). Capital: Juneau. Abbreviations: AK (for use with zip code), Alas.

  2. Gulf of A·las·ka, a gulf of the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of southern Alaska.

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Other words from Alaska

  • A·las·kan, adjective, noun

Words Nearby Alaska

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British Dictionary definitions for Alaska

Alaska

/ (əˈlæskə) /


noun
  1. the largest state of the US, in the extreme northwest of North America: the aboriginal inhabitants are Inuit and Yupik; the earliest White settlements were made by the Russians; it was purchased by the US from Russia in 1867. It is mostly mountainous and volcanic, rising over 6000 m (20 000 ft), with the Yukon basin in the central region; large areas are covered by tundra; it has important mineral resources (chiefly coal, oil, and natural gas). Capital: Juneau. Pop: 648 818 (2003 est). Area: 1 530 694 sq km (591 004 sq miles): Abbreviation: Alas, (with zip code) AK

  2. Gulf of Alaska the N part of the Pacific, between the Alaska Peninsula and the Alexander Archipelago

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Alaska

Alaska

State in northwesternmost North America bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north; Yukon, Canada, to the east; the Pacific Ocean to the south; and the Bering Sea to the west. Its capital is Juneau, and its largest city is Anchorage.

Notes for Alaska

The forty-ninth state, admitted in 1959, and the largest.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.