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

They also run Grand Banks, a restaurant on a schooner moored in the Hudson River.

From New York Times • Jul. 3, 2017

When the Hibernia oilfield was discovered in 1979 on the Grand Banks, a plateau in shallow waters, many doubted that petroleum could be pumped safely.

From Economist • Jun. 22, 2017

In the old days they fished from schooners, big wooden ships with white canvas sails that took the fishermen far offshore to the Grand Banks fishing grounds.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick