third world

third world

Generally speaking, those countries that are underdeveloped or only beginning to develop at a sociopolitical and economic level. Often hyphenated and used as a modifier before a noun. The devastating attack rendered the country a third world in a matter of weeks. He has spent his life dedicated to improving the lives of those in third-world countries around the globe.
See also: third, world
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

third world

Underdeveloped or developing countries, as in The conditions in our poorest rural areas resemble those in the third world. This expression originated in the mid-1900s, at first denoting those countries in Asia and Africa that were not aligned with either the Communist bloc nations or the non-Communist Western nations. Because they were for the most part poor and underdeveloped, the term was transferred to all countries with those characteristics, and later still to poorer groups within a larger prevailing culture.
See also: third, world
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • beggar thy neighbor
  • neighbor
  • neighbour
  • once in a lifetime
  • double or nothing
  • a nod and a wink
  • a nudge and a wink
  • every woman for herself
  • first hand
  • carrot
References in periodicals archive
So, from the point of view of the South, which thinks that it is the North that is responsible for the environmental problems in their countries, it is understandable that when the World Bank talks of environmental reforms in the Third World, the ideas are not that readily accepted.
If we don't change as a people and as a government, we will be stuck as a third world or developing country forever.
To genuinely think of the United States as a Third World country, recalling the Bandung era and its promise, as well as the dystopian reality of Trump as a quintessential Third World dictator, offers several possible openings to understand the current historical conjuncture and the place of literary and cultural analysis.
In conclusion, the book does provide a new framework of development for third world countries based on increasing regional cooperation that goes beyond the socialist or the capitalist economic development models.
There are a number of reasons that a country is a third world nation.
In contrast to scholars who construe the Third World's impact on West German student as a mere "projection screen" (p.
The introduction outlines our current understanding of the Third World in light of globalization and describes our contemporary academic approach as formed by the lens of cultural criticism.
Asked what the South African reaction would be if the IAAF prevent Semenya from competing again, Stofile said: "I think it would be the third world war."
While the directorate-general for health and consumers is consulting on the issue of animal transport regulations with the aspiration of improving animal welfare, the general view of the Commission-and particularly the director general for trade - has effectively been that it is desirable to export animal production to Third World countries, in spite of their lower animal welfare standards.
The aim of this paper was to analyze the factorial structure of the Causes of Third World Poverty Questionnaire (CTWPQ; Harper, 2002) in Spanish-speaking samples from two countries at different levels of development: Spain (developed nation) and Nicaragua (developing nation).
THE true meaning of poverty is what goes on in the Third World.
This is partly why, especially in the Third World, cancer patients present late in their disease process.
The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times.
THE DARKER NATIONS: A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE THIRD WORLD
The third revised, expanded edition of VOICES FROM THE MARTIN: INTERPRETING THE BIBLE IN THE THIRD WORLD represents a major revision of a powerful resource, adding some sixteen new essays and a new section on postcolonial readings of scripture to a survey of Third World applications of Biblical passages and teachings.