Pacific Ocean

American  

[puh-sif-ik oh-shuhn] / pəˈsɪf ɪk ˈoʊ ʃən /

Often the Pacific

noun

1. the largest of the world’s five principal oceans, bordered by the American continents, Asia, and Australia, with its deepest section in the Mariana Trench: divided by the equator into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. 62,455,900 square miles (161,760,000 square kilometers).

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Pacific Ocean British  

noun

1. the world's largest and deepest ocean, lying between Asia and Australia and North and South America: almost landlocked in the north, linked with the Arctic Ocean only by the Bering Strait, and extending to Antarctica in the south; has exceptionally deep trenches, and a large number of volcanic and coral islands. Area: about 165 760 000 sq km (64 000 000 sq miles). Average depth: 4215 m (14 050 ft). Greatest depth: Challenger Deep (in the Marianas Trench), 11 033 m (37 073 ft). Greatest width: (between Panama and Mindanao, Philippines) 17 066 km (10 600 miles)

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Pacific Ocean Cultural  

1. The largest ocean in the world, separating Asia and Australia on the west from North America and South America on the east.

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Etymology

Origin of Pacific Ocean

First recorded in 1560–70

Example Sentences

El Nino warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, triggering worldwide changes in winds, atmospheric pressure and rainfall patterns, and pushing warmer overall global temperatures.

From Barron's • Jul. 9, 2026

The tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu on Wednesday expressed "grave and serious concern" over a Chinese test of a long-range missile that landed in the Pacific Ocean near its waters.

From Barron's • Jul. 8, 2026

In September 2024, China carried out its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in decades, launching a dummy warhead from Hainan island in southern China into waters near French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 6, 2026

Researchers have uncovered a hidden feature beneath the Pacific Ocean that helps explain why Japan's devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami became so destructive.

From Science Daily • Jul. 5, 2026

Twelve billion gallons of water suddenly decided to make a run for the Pacific Ocean, which is about fifty miles from here.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith