British Isles
Americanplural noun
-
a group of islands in W Europe: Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and adjacent small islands. 120,592 sq. mi. (312,300 sq. km).
plural noun
-
a group of islands in W Europe, consisting of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Orkney, Shetland, the Channel Islands belonging to Great Britain, and the islands adjacent to these
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The three sites on the Isle of Man form part of the Temperate Rainforest Restoration Programme, which looks to restore woodland areas across large swathes of the British Isles, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
“This race kind of fell apart a little bit with a couple scratches,” British Isles trainer Richard Baltas said, “but there were still some nice horses in there and he did it with authority.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2026
The measure which most sets apart the Jersey legislation from the rest of the British Isles concerns the manner in which those eligible for an assisted death can end their lives.
From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026
They examined how common the C282Y variant was in 29 regions across the British Isles and Ireland.
From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2026
On January 31, 1917, the German ambassador in Washington informed the American government that Germany was about to resume unrestricted submarine warfare against all vessels approaching the British Isles.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.