En ‧ gland /ˈɪŋɡlənd/ BrE AmE
1 . the largest country in Britain; capital London ⇨ compare ↑ Britain , ↑ United Kingdom
2 . England expects that every man will do his duty quote a phrase used by Lord Nelson to his men just before the Battle of Trafalgar
3 . England is a nation of shopkeepers quote a phrase from a work by Napoleon Bonaparte
4 . If I should die, think only this of me:/That there’s some corner of a foreign field/That is forever England quote part of the poem The Soldier by Rupert Brooke which is associated with a very ↑ romantic image of England
5 . lie back and think of England a phrase believed to have been used by Victorian teachers and mothers when they advised young women about what to do when their husbands had sex with them. The phrase is often used humorously now when something is happening to a person and they do not like it but have to accept it.
6 . There’ll always be an England the title and first line of a ↑ patriotic song
7 . this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England quote a phrase from Shakespeare’s play Richard II describing how beautiful England is
8 . somebody can/could do something for England British English informal used to say that someone does or could do something a lot or to a great degree:
He could bore for England (=he is very boring) .