country noun
1 area of land with its own government
ADJ. beautiful, fascinating, great this great country of ours | hot, tropical | temperate | cold | foreign, overseas, strange It's difficult to live in a foreign country when you don't speak the language. students from overseas countries What must it be like, to grow old in a strange country? | home, native | adopted Many refugee servicemen gave their lives for their adopted country. | host The refugees do jobs that workers in the host country refuse to do. | neighbouring | distant, far, faraway | independent | occupied | free ‘It's a free country!’ he shouted. ‘I can do what I like.’ | enemy, friendly | neutral, non-aligned | Arab, African, etc. | Eastern, Western, etc. | Anglophone, English-speaking, etc. | EU, NATO, etc. | member, non-member OECD member countries | developed, industrial/industrialized | developing, Thirld World, underdeveloped industrially backward countries | advanced economically advanced countries | backward | low-income, poor | affluent, rich | capitalist, communist, democratic, socialist | Catholic, Muslim, etc. | oil-exporting, oil-producing
VERB + COUNTRY govern, rule, run The country was ruled by a brutal dictatorship. the politicians who run the country | lead He accused the government of leading the country to disaster. | divide, split The issue of the single currency has divided the country. | flee, leave The former president has been forced to flee the country. | serve | love He loved his country deeply. | betray | play for, represent She represented her country at the Sydney Olympics. | tour, travel, visit He travelled the country on his motorbike.
COUNTRY + VERB border sth countries bordering the Black Sea | export sth, import sth The country exports around 80% of its output. | agree sth, sign sth The two countries signed a basic treaty of cooperation.
PREP. across a/the ~ travelling across the country | all over a/the ~ They are holding special events all over the country. | around/round a/the ~ This is just one of 30 sites around the country. | in a/the ~ people who live in this country | throughout a/the ~ New schools are being built throughout the country.
PHRASES country of origin All goods must be clearly labelled with their country of origin. | a part of a country There will be rain in many parts of the country tomorrow. | the country as a whole The rich benefited from the reforms, not the country as a whole.
2 area of land with particular features
ADJ. desert, hill/hilly, mountain/mountainous, open, wooded The village is surrounded by miles and miles of open country. | rough, wild | farming This part of Africa is rich farming country. | hunting, walking superb walking country
QUANT. stretch, tract a beautiful stretch of country Whole tracts of country, once fertile, have become arid.
3 land away from towns/cities
COUNTRY + NOUN life | air | lane, road | area, district | town, village | cottage, estate, home, house, mansion, residence, retreat, seat | park | walk | boy, girl | gentleman, squire | dweller, folk, people
PREP. across ~ riding across country | in the ~ She lives in the country.
You can also check other dicts: country (English, 中文解释 ), wordnet sense, Collins Definition