high sea

[hahy see]

noun

1. the sea or ocean beyond the three-mile limit or territorial waters of a state or nation.

2. Usually high seas.

   1. the open, unenclosed waters of any sea or ocean; common waterway.

      The book was inspired by her own adventures on the high seas.

      Maritime pollution on the high seas is becoming a matter of grave consequence for coastal communities.

   2. Law.,  the area within which transactions are subject to the jurisdiction of the admiralty court.

Other Word Forms

• high-sea adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of high sea¹

First recorded before 1100

Example Sentences

Federal troops are wreaking havoc in the streets, people are being abducted and sent to prison camps — or disappeared entirely — and the military is executing orders to murder foreign civilians on the high seas.

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They are murdering civilians on the high seas on the president’s order.

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Three years ago countries agreed that 30% of the world's national and international waters - high seas - must be protected by 2030 to help depleted marine life recover.

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Nor does the right to life change depending on whether killings took place in territorial waters or on the high seas.

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There are limited exceptions to this which allow a state to seize a ship, such as a "hot pursuit" where a vessel is chased from a country's waters into the high seas.

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