What does "area" mean?

A measure of the extent of a surface; it is measured in square units.

Area

Common synonyms include: sphere, abode, academic discipline, academic specialty, acreage, air space.

//ˈɛə.ɹɪ.ə// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Noun

1
A measure of the extent of a surface; it is measured in square units.
"It is about 4.5 million square kilometers in area and holds the world’s third largest collection of ice after Antarctica and Greenland."
2
a part of a structure having some specific characteristic or function wordnet
3
A particular geographic region.
"Eggimann used a computer algorithm to analyze data from the open-source geographic database OpenStreetMap and automatically detect areas with the superblock potential. He applied this analysis to 5 km x 5 km areas of the city center in 18 different cities around the world."
4
the extent of a 2-dimensional surface enclosed within a boundary wordnet
5
Any particular extent of surface, especially an empty or unused extent.
"The photo is a little dark in that area."

Show 8 more definitions

6
a part of an animal that has a special function or is supplied by a given artery or nerve wordnet
7
The extent, scope, or range of an object or concept.
"The plans are a bit vague in that area."
8
a subject of study wordnet
9
An open space, below ground level, giving access to the basement of a house, and typically separated from the pavement by railings. British
"A boy seized it, whom she bribed with a shilling to relinquish his prize, which she was taking home, when it escaped from her hand, and fell down the area of a house."
10
a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography) wordnet
11
Penalty box; penalty area.
"Bendtner's goal-bound shot was well saved by goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi but fell to Arsahvin on the edge of the area and the Russian swivelled, shaped his body and angled a sumptuous volley into the corner."
12
a particular environment or walk of life wordnet
13
Genitals. slang
"But what do I do when the third one runs at me with his bike helmet on? I got no more hands to protect my area!"

"It is risky for you to go into that area alone."

Learned borrowing from Latin ārea.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.