An island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the central Windward Islands of the West Indies. Visited by Columbus in 1498, the island proved difficult to colonize due to strong resistance from its Carib inhabitants. The British established a settlement in the mid-1700s and held the island, except for a brief occupation by the French (1779-1783), thereafter, finally defeating the Caribs in 1797.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
