Indian Ocean

American  

[in-dee-uhn oh-shuhn] / ˈɪn di ən ˈoʊ ʃən /

noun

1. an ocean south of Asia, east of Africa, and west of Australia, with its deepest section in the Java Trench. 27,243,268 square miles (70,560,000 square kilometers).

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Indian Ocean British  

noun

1. an ocean bordered by Africa in the west, Asia in the north, and Australia in the east and merging with the Antarctic Ocean in the south. Average depth: 3900 m (13 000 ft). Greatest depth (off the Sunda Islands): 7450 m (24 442 ft). In December 2004 a major undersea earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami which affected large areas of the ocean as far away as east Africa, and killed an estimated 226 435 people. Area: about 73 556 000 sq km (28 400 000 sq miles)

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Indian Ocean Cultural  

1. Third-largest ocean (after the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean), extending from southern Asia to Antarctica and from eastern Africa to southeastern Australia.

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Etymology

Origin of Indian Ocean

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Indian Ocean

From there, tankers sail through the chokepoint at Bab al-Mandeb and out to the Indian Ocean and oil-hungry Asian markets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Known as the "Gate of Tears" in Arabic, the Bab al-Mandeb strait sits at the southern tip of the Red Sea, connecting it with the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

When the Bab al-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean is completely shut, vessels can still get to Asia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

The H5N1 strain of bird flu was detected on the remote Australian territories of Heard and McDonald Islands in October last year - located in the southern Indian Ocean.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

New Zealand, meanwhile, is part of the immense Indian Ocean plate even though it is nowhere near the Indian Ocean.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson