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

When a massive earthquake struck off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula in late July, it unleashed a tsunami that raced across the Pacific Ocean.

From Science Daily • Jun. 25, 2026

One of the ingredients of El Niño is triggered when the trade winds in the Pacific Ocean — winds that reliably blow from east to west — weaken.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2026

Whether we get an El Niño depends on what is happening in the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere above it.

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026

Continuously inhabited for the last quarter-century, the aging ISS is scheduled to be pushed into Earth's orbit before crashing into an isolated spot in the Pacific Ocean in 2030.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

The time hovering over the ceiling of my bed tells me that it’s four a.m. in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu