British West Indies
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British West Indies
A historic term for the British island colonies in the West Indies. Most of the islands gained their independence in the late 20th century; a few, such as the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, remain British territories.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
British West Indies
pl n
(Placename) a former name for the states in the Caribbean that are members of the Commonwealth: the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; along with the islands which remain as United Kingdom dependencies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the British Virgin Islands
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Brit′ish West` In′dies
n.pl.
(formerly) the possessions of Great Britain in the West Indies. Compare West Indies (def. 2).
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Noun | 1. | British West Indies - the islands in the West Indies that were formerly under British control, including the Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Antigua, Grenada, Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad the Indies, West Indies - the string of islands between North America and South America; a popular resort area British Empire - a former empire consisting of Great Britain and all the territories under its control; reached its greatest extent at the end of World War I; it included the British Isles, British West Indies, Canada, British Guiana; British West Africa, British East Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand; "the sun never sets on the British Empire" |
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