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Uncle Sam

noun

a personification of the government or people of the U.S.: represented as a tall, lean man with white chin whiskers, wearing a blue tailcoat, red-and-white-striped trousers, and a top hat with a band of stars.

Uncle Sam

noun

a personification of the government of the United States

Uncle Sam

A figure who stands for the government of the United States and for the United States itself. Uncle Sam — whose initials are the abbreviation of United States — is portrayed as an old man with a gray goatee who sports a top hat and Stars and Stripes clothing. During World War I and World War II, posters of Uncle Sam exhorted young men to join the armed forces. (Compare John Bull.)

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Uncle Sam¹

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15; extension of the initials U.S.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Uncle Sam¹

C19: apparently a humorous interpretation of the letters stamped on army supply boxes during the War of 1812: US

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, released a poster on social media this week that depicts Uncle Sam urging people to call a hotline to “report all foreign invaders.”

From

All that brainpower would have been for naught, however, save for the beneficence of Uncle Sam.

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The closest you could get was to look into the camera and try to sell to a generic housewife, or Uncle Sam pointing in the poster.

From

The political messaging in Kendrick's halftime show came from the start when actor Samuel L Jackson, dressed as US government icon Uncle Sam, introduced the rapper.

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Inside New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome, actor Samuel L. Jackson appeared as Uncle Sam in a star-patterned top hat and introduced the crowd to “the great American game.”

From

Uncle Remus Uncle Tom

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