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

Three more months later, it will be 85 years since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026

Thursday’s meeting between the two had a few rough patches, particularly the president’s joke about Pearl Harbor after a reporter asked him why the U.S. hadn’t notified allies about the U.S.’s plan to strike Iran.

From Barron's • Mar. 22, 2026

"Prime Minister Takaichi viscerally reacted, her eyes widening and her smile disappearing as she leaned back, drawing her hands in, clearly taken aback by the sudden mention of Pearl Harbor," she said.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 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

In Hawaii, at Pearl Harbor, our MQF was hoisted by a huge crane onto a flat-bed truck and driven out to the airport.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins