area
Americannoun
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any particular extent of space or surface; part.
the dark areas in the painting;
the dusty area of the room.
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a geographical region; tract: the unsettled areas along the frontier.
the Chicago area;
the unsettled areas along the frontier.
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any section reserved for a specific function: the dining area of a house.
the business area of a town;
the dining area of a house.
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extent, range, or scope.
inquiries that embrace the whole area of science.
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field of study, or a branch of a field of study.
Related areas of inquiry often reflect borrowed notions.
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a piece of unoccupied ground; an open space.
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the space or site on which a building stands; the yard attached to or surrounding a house.
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British. areaway.
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the quantitative measure of a plane or curved surface; two-dimensional extent.
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Anatomy. a zone of the cerebral cortex having a specific function.
The damage to Broca's area affected his speech.
noun
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any flat, curved, or irregular expanse of a surface
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the extent of a two-dimensional surface enclosed within a specified boundary or geometric figure
the area of Ireland
the area of a triangle
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the two-dimensional extent of the surface of a solid, or of some part thereof, esp one bounded by a closed curve
the area of a sphere
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a section, portion, or part
an area of the body
an area of the sky
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region; district; locality
a mountainous area
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a geographical division of administrative responsibility
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( as modifier )
area manager
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a part or section, as of a building, town, etc, having some specified function or characteristic
reception area
commercial area
slum area
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Also called: areaway. a sunken area, usually enclosed, giving light, air, and sometimes access to a cellar or basement
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the range, extent, or scope of anything
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a subject field or field of study
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any unoccupied or unused flat open piece of ground
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the ground on which a building stands, or the ground surrounding a building
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anatomy any of the various regions of the cerebral cortex
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computing any part of a computer memory assigned to store data of a specified type
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The extent of a surface or plane figure as measured in square units.
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see gray area.
Other Word Forms
- areal adjective
Etymology
Origin of area
First recorded in 1530–40; fram Latin ārea “vacant piece of level ground, open space in a town, threshing floor”; perhaps akin to ārēre “to be dry”; arid
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.
He is an engineer in the New Jersey area.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026
A spokesperson from the Langport Area Business Group in Somerset said the move makes the area feel "more active and lived in".
From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026
The Seminole Police Department said in a statement that officers responded to an incident in the valet area of the hotel and casino shortly after 7 p.m.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
Leipzig has become an internationally recognized leader in this area, contributing important insights into how these receptors function and how they can be targeted for new therapies.
From Science Daily • Apr. 6, 2026
I hurried around to the alley and into the back room, which was both a storage area for the store and our kitchen.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.