Grand Banks

American  

Or Grand Bank

noun

1. an extensive shoal SE of Newfoundland: fishing grounds. 350 miles (565 km) long; 40,000 sq. mi. (104,000 sq. km).

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Grand Banks British  

plural noun

1. a part of the continental shelf in the Atlantic, extending for about 560 km (350 miles) off the SE coast of Newfoundland: meeting place of the cold Labrador Current and the warm Gulf Stream, producing frequent fogs and formerly rich fishing grounds

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Example Sentences

It was a local son, João Afonso, who, in the early 16th century, alerted Portugal to the cod-rich Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and who first brought codfish back to Portugal.

From Washington Post • Mar. 18, 2022

French fishermen had long taken codfish from the rich waters of the Grand Banks, just off the coasts of modern Newfoundland, dried their catches on neighboring islands, and traded for furs with nearby Indians.

From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018

There, bergs that would ground on the Grand Banks sail through on stronger currents.

From Economist • Jun. 22, 2017

Through the summer months, a fine wooden-bulled oyster dredger named Grand Banks is moored on the east side of Manhattan.

From The Guardian • Nov. 17, 2016

The advent of mechanized fishing in the 1920s drastically reduced the number of cod from the Gulf of Maine to the Grand Banks.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann