Sentence:  The President of the United States proclaimed the first Sunday in November as `` National Grandmothers ' Day '' and urged <WSD>America</WSD> to say it with flowers . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776