Pearl Harbor

American  

noun

1. a harbor near Honolulu, on S Oahu, in Hawaii: surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base and other military installations December 7, 1941.

2. any significant or crippling defeat, betrayal, loss, etc., that comes unexpectedly.

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Pearl Harbor British  

noun

1. an almost landlocked inlet of the Pacific on the S coast of the island of Oahu, Hawaii: site of a US naval base attacked by the Japanese in 1941, resulting in the US entry into World War II

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Pearl Harbor Cultural  

1. A major United States naval base in Hawaii that was attacked without warning by the Japanese air force on December 7, 1941, with great loss of American lives and ships. In asking Congress to declare war on Japan the next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt described the day of the attack as “a date which will live in infamy.”

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Example Sentences

The Pearl Harbor attack of Dec. 7, 1941, brought the S&P down by 11% over the following three months — but one year later the market was up by 4.3%.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Thursday’s meeting between the two had a few rough patches, particularly the president’s joke about Pearl Harbor after a reporter asked him why the U.S. hadn’t notified allies about the U.S.’s plan to strike Iran.

From Barron's • Mar. 22, 2026

The Pearl Harbor attack led to the US joining World War Two, after which the countries became close allies.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

President Trump: "We wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?"

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026

This was as strange, as awesome, as mysteriously unnerving as Pearl Harbor had been.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston