Pearl Harbor

American  

noun

1. a harbor near Honolulu, on S Oahu, in Hawaii: surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base and other military installations December 7, 1941.

2. any significant or crippling defeat, betrayal, loss, etc., that comes unexpectedly.

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Pearl Harbor British  

noun

1. an almost landlocked inlet of the Pacific on the S coast of the island of Oahu, Hawaii: site of a US naval base attacked by the Japanese in 1941, resulting in the US entry into World War II

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Pearl Harbor Cultural  

1. A major United States naval base in Hawaii that was attacked without warning by the Japanese air force on December 7, 1941, with great loss of American lives and ships. In asking Congress to declare war on Japan the next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt described the day of the attack as “a date which will live in infamy.”

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Example Sentences

The Pearl Harbor attack led to the US joining World War Two, after which the countries became close allies.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026

In 2016, President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe scattered petals together on the waters of Pearl Harbor to honor the more than 2,400 killed in the attack.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

Imperial Japan launched a pre-emptive attack on the key US Pacific base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, hoping to strike a decisive blow before an expected US entry into World War II.

From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026

President Trump: "We wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?"

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026

While the United States was still reeling from the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 9, 1941, under an order of Stalin, the first of Marina Raskova’s aviation regiments was created.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein