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

See Examples For:

Pacific Ocean

The mission is expected to last nearly 10 hours before Starship’s planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, according to the company.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

These natural archives allowed the researchers to reconstruct Indian and Pacific Ocean climate conditions back to the early 1600s.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

The Long Beach Peninsula is a narrow section of upscale homes with beaches on both sides — one facing Alamitos Bay, the other facing the Pacific Ocean.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

El Niño, for example, a natural warming of the Pacific Ocean, can temporarily push them higher.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

They are hoping to find the passage to the Pacific Ocean and the Orient, and they think the Chickahominy might lead to it.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone