Pacific Ocean

American  

[puh-sif-ik oh-shuhn] / pəˈsɪf ɪk ˈoʊ ʃən /

Often the Pacific

noun

1. the largest of the world’s five principal oceans, bordered by the American continents, Asia, and Australia, with its deepest section in the Mariana Trench: divided by the equator into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. 62,455,900 square miles (161,760,000 square kilometers).

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Pacific Ocean British  

noun

1. the world's largest and deepest ocean, lying between Asia and Australia and North and South America: almost landlocked in the north, linked with the Arctic Ocean only by the Bering Strait, and extending to Antarctica in the south; has exceptionally deep trenches, and a large number of volcanic and coral islands. Area: about 165 760 000 sq km (64 000 000 sq miles). Average depth: 4215 m (14 050 ft). Greatest depth: Challenger Deep (in the Marianas Trench), 11 033 m (37 073 ft). Greatest width: (between Panama and Mindanao, Philippines) 17 066 km (10 600 miles)

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Pacific Ocean Cultural  

1. The largest ocean in the world, separating Asia and Australia on the west from North America and South America on the east.

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Etymology

Origin of Pacific Ocean

First recorded in 1560–70

Example Sentences

An El Niño develops in the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere above it.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026

Stronger El Niños, which are characterized by warmer ocean waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, “can more significantly tilt the odds in favor of expected outcomes,” the Climate Prediction Center said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2026

El Nino is a natural climate occurrence that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds and rainfall patterns and erratic weather.

From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026

In the past, live-fire drills were often conducted at a remote launch test site off Taiwan’s southeastern coast, facing the Pacific Ocean.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026

When we first walked up to the Pacific Ocean, the tears welled up in my eyes and her death seemed near.

From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata