Iwo Jima

American  

[ee-wuh jee-muh, ee-woh, ee-waw jee-mah] / ˈi wə ˈdʒi mə, ˈi woʊ, ˈi wɔ ˈdʒi mɑ /

noun

1. one of the Volcano Islands, in the N Pacific, S of Japan: under U.S. administration after 1945; returned to Japan 1968.

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Iwo Jima British  

/ ˈdʒiːmə /

noun

1. Official Japanese name: Iō-tō.  an island in the W Pacific, about 1100 km (700 miles) south of Japan: one of the Volcano Islands; scene of prolonged fighting between US and Japanese forces until taken by the US in 1945; returned to Japan in 1968. Area: 20 sq km (8 sq miles)

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Iwo Jima Cultural  

1. An island in the Pacific Ocean, taken from the Japanese by United States Marines near the end of World War II after a furious battle.

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Discover More

The battle has been immortalized by a famous photograph and a sculpture based on the photograph of half a dozen Marines raising the flag of the United States on a summit on Iwo Jima.

Example Sentences

They were flown out of Caracas by helicopter, and taken to the USS Iwo Jima, a warship stationed in the Caribbean.

From BBC • Jan. 4, 2026

There are photographs from the Vietnam War era that have become as iconic as the flag-raising on Iwo Jima or the inferno aboard the Hindenburg.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025

From Europe, he was sent to Iwo Jima, where “every square foot of earth seemed to be torn or pockmarked by shell fire and shrapnel,” and then Okinawa.

From Slate • Jun. 6, 2025

“Everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson, as well as the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee airmen, the Marines at Iwo Jima and so many others,” Ullyot stated.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2025

The Fifth Fleet that Admiral Spruance sent in against Iwo Jima was the largest one that had ever sailed the Pacific.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac