Uncle Sam

noun
1.
a personification of the government or people of the U.S.: represented as a tall, lean man with white chin whiskers, wearing a blue tailcoat, red-and-white-striped trousers, and a top hat with a band of stars.
Origin
1805-15, Americanism; extension of the initials U.S.
British Dictionary definitions for Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam

noun
1.
a personification of the government of the United States
Word Origin
C19: apparently a humorous interpretation of the letters stamped on army supply boxes during the War of 1812: US
Word Origin and History for Uncle Sam
n.

symbol of the United States of America, 1813, coined during the war with Britain as a contrast to John Bull, and no doubt suggested by the initials U.S. "[L]ater statements connecting it with different government officials of the name of Samuel appear to be unfounded" [OED]. The common figure of Uncle Sam began to appear in political cartoons c.1850. Only gradually superseded earlier Brother Jonathan (1776), largely through the popularization of the figure by cartoonist Thomas Nast. British in World War I sometimes called U.S. soldiers Sammies.

Uncle Sam in Culture

Uncle Sam definition


A figure who stands for the government of the United States and for the United States itself. Uncle Sam — whose initials are the abbreviation of United States — is portrayed as an old man with a gray goatee who sports a top hat and Stars and Stripes clothing. During World War I and World War II, posters of Uncle Sam exhorted young men to join the armed forces. (Compare John Bull.)

Slang definitions & phrases for Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam

noun phrase
  1. The US government; the US as a nation (1813+)
  2. A federal agent or agency; fed (1940s+ Underworld)

[said to have originated during the War of 1812 when Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York, locally known as Uncle Sam, stamped US on supplies he provided for the government, and this was jocularly taken to be his own initials]