Northwest Passage

American  

noun

1. a ship route along the Arctic coast of Canada and Alaska, joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

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Northwest Passage British  

noun

1. the passage by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the N coast of America: attempted for over 300 years by Europeans seeking a short route to the Far East, before being successfully navigated by Amundsen (1903–06)

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Northwest Passage Cultural  

1. A sea route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through northwestern America, often sought by early explorers. There is an actual Northwest Passage, but it requires sailing through far northern waters that are icebound much of the year.

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Etymology

Origin of Northwest Passage

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

Traversing the Northwest Passage would save shippers an estimated two weeks compared with the Panama Canal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

Alex says that despite the peril of the journey, he has wanted to traverse the Northwest Passage for a long time.

From BBC • Aug. 25, 2024

Tuffley, the expedition’s leader, says that while melting Arctic ice was making it easier for a boat to move through the Northwest Passage, the icebergs this process was creating were making the journey more “unpredictable”.

From BBC • Aug. 25, 2024

The Northwest Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has lacked ice in the summertime in recent years, they said.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2024

Its government was possessed with the desire to find what English geographic experts were certain was a Northwest Passage through the Arctic.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler