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• Pas de Calais
  Pas de Calais

  noun

  French name of the Strait of Dover.
• Pas-de-Calais
  Pas-de-Calais

  noun

  a department in N France. 2,607 sq. mi. (6,750 sq. km). Arras.

Pas de Calais

¹ American  

[pahd^uh ka-le] / pɑdə kaˈlɛ /

noun

1. French name of the Strait of Dover.

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Pas-de-Calais ² American  

[pahd^uh-ka-le] / pɑdə kaˈlɛ /

noun

1. a department in N France. 2,607 sq. mi. (6,750 sq. km). Arras.

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Pas-de-Calais British  

/ pɑdkalɛ /

noun

1. a department of N France, in Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, on the Straits of Dover (the Pas de Calais ): the part of France closest to the British Isles. Capital: Arras. Pop: 1 451 307 (2003 est). Area: 6752 sq km (2633 sq miles)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Pas de Calais Pas-de-Calais

Another important facet of Quicksilver was the bombing effort around the Pas de Calais region immediately before D-Day.

From Fox News ● Jun. 5, 2019

His greatest success was persuading German commanders that the Allied invasion would come in France’s Pas de Calais region, far north of the real Normandy landing beaches.

From Seattle Times ● May 30, 2018

Francis was buried in Pernes British Cemetery in Pas de Calais, and has a headstone in St Peter's in Endensor, Derbyshire.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2016

The Calais region – Nord Pas de Calais – has one of the highest unemployment rates in France: 13% compared with 10% nationwide.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 31, 2015

ARTOIS, an ancient province of the north of France, corresponding to the present department of Pas de Calais, with the exclusion of the arrondissements of Boulogne and Montreuil, which belonged to Picardy.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various

Three deaths in northern France's Pas-de-Calais region were "likely" caused by the heatwave, the local authorities said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

"Terrible shipwreck in Pas-de-Calais," Mr Darmanin wrote on X.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2024

Jacques Billant, the prefect for the Pas-de-Calais area, told reporters in Wimereux that several people had fallen out of the boat.

From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2024

The prefecture of the northern Pas-de-Calais region said the decision was made to evacuate the high school in Arras after police received a bomb threat via its website.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 2023

Paine was elected to the French Convention by four different departments—Oise, Puy-de-Dome, Somme, and Pas-de-Calais.

From The Life Of Thomas Paine, Vol. I. (of II) With A History of His Literary, Political and Religious Career in America France, and England; to which is added a Sketch of Paine by William Cobbett by Conway, Moncure Daniel