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Britain

[ brit-n ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Britain

/ ˈ��ɪ��ə�� /

noun

another name for Great Britain United Kingdom

Britain

Officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , located on the British Isles off the western coast of the mainland ( continent ) of Europe . It comprises England , Wales , and Scotland on the island of Great Britain , and Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland . Its capital and largest city is London .

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Notes

It is one of the world's leading industrialized nations.

Most of the settlers of the American colonies were British. The colonies remained under the British crown until the American Revolutionary War .

Britain declared war on Germany in 1939. Allied with the United States and the Soviet Union , the British, under the leadership of Winston Churchill , played an important role in defeating Germany.

At the height of its imperial power in the late nineteenth century, Britain boasted colonies and possessions around the globe. ( See British Empire .)

A constitutional monarchy , Britain's government calls for the hereditary king or queen to perform mostly ceremonial functions. Parliament governs the country.

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Example Sentences

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A sugar tax on soft drinks was introduced in 2019 and has helped removed huge amounts of sugar from drinks sold in Britain, according to Public Health England.

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"But this government is moving to clean energy because it's best for Britain. It's more energy security for Britain."

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A charity set up to help doctors and healthcare professionals with their mental health in Great Britain has extended its services to Northern Ireland.

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The group's UK Director, Luke Tryl, diagnoses a "despondency or misery about the state of Britain that doesn't feel sustainable".

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A national power outage stopped play at the Madrid Open, with Britain's Jacob Fearnley among those forced off court.

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