Christmas Island
Americannoun
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an Australian island in the Indian Ocean, about 190 miles (300 km) S of Java. 52 sq. mi. (135 sq. km).
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one of the Line Islands, in Kiribati (Gilbert Islands), in the central Pacific; sovereignty disputed by U.S.: largest atoll in the Pacific; former U.S. test center for nuclear warheads. About 220 sq. mi. (575 sq. km).
noun
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the former name (until 1981) of Kiritimati
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an island in the Indian Ocean, south of Java: administered by Singapore (1900–58), now by Australia; phosphate mining. Pop: 1496 (2013 est). Area: 135 sq km (52 sq miles)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
John Morris, 87, worked as a laundry operator "washing contaminated clothing" on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean in the 1950s, and said he witnessed tests of three atomic bombs and one hydrogen bomb.
From BBC • Jun. 25, 2025
Furthermore, the LabEmbryoCam accompanied researchers from the University on an expedition to Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, to support groundbreaking research on the early life stages of the Christmas Island red crab.
From Science Daily • Dec. 6, 2024
The researchers used baited traps to lure the morays to the surface of inland caves that connect to the ocean on Australia’s Christmas Island and the Philippines’s Panglao Island.
From Science Magazine • May 18, 2023
Supercolonies of these frenetic insects spray an acid to subdue prey — perhaps most notably, decimating red land crabs on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
From Washington Post • Apr. 6, 2023
This was Great Britain’s announcement that it would test its first thermonuclear device over Christmas Island that spring.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
