Uncle Sam
noun/ˌʌŋkl ˈsæm/
/ˌʌŋkl ˈsæm/
(informal)- a way of referring to the United States of America or the US government (sometimes shown as a tall man with a white beard and a tall hat)
- He owed $20 000 in tax to Uncle Sam.
CultureUncle Sam wears red, white and blue clothes and has stars on his tall hat. He was probably named after 'Uncle' Sam Wilson (1766-1854), who examined army supplies for the US government during the War of 1812. During both world wars, a picture of Uncle Sam appeared on posters telling young men that they should join the armed forces.More Like This Expressions with people’s namesExpressions with people’s namesWord Originearly 19th cent.: said (from the time of the first recorded instances) to have arisen as an expansion of the letters US.Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
Uncle Sam