a river in NW North America, rising in the Rocky Mountains and flowing through British Columbia, then west to the Pacific. Length: about 1930 km (1200 miles)
2.
a city in central South Carolina, on the Congaree River: the state capital. Pop: 117 357 (2003 est)
Columbia in British English2
(kəˈlʌmbɪə)
noun
the first test vehicle of the NASA space shuttle fleet to prove the possibility of routine access to space for scientific and commercial ventures
Columbia in American English1
(kəˈlʌmbiə; kəlʌmbjə)
US
noun
OLD-FASHIONED, Poetic
the U.S. personified as a woman
Word origin
after Columbus1
Columbia in American English2
(kəˈlʌmbiə; kəˈlʌmbjə)
1.
capital of S.C., on the Congaree River: pop. 116,000
2.
city in central Mo.: pop. 85,000
3.
city in NC Md., southwest of Baltimore: pop. 88,000
4.
river rising in SE British Columbia and flowing south & west through Wash., & along the Wash.-Oreg. border into the Pacific: 1,210 mi (1,947 km)
Word origin
(senses 1 and 2) after Columbia, personification of the U.S.; (sense 4) after the name of the first ship to enterit (1792)