First recorded in 1875–80
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She adds: "We are on the edge of the roaring forties, we are just a small rock in the middle of the south Atlantic, so we do have some pretty extreme weather."
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2023
The roaring forties describes the area between the latitudes 40 and 50 south of the equator - notorious for strong winds.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2023
His most formidable obstacle was a stretch of black, tempestuous ocean just east of the Cape in the latitudes known forbiddingly as the "roaring forties."
From Time Magazine Archive
Beyond the Cape of Good Hope, the "roaring forties" justified their ill repute.
From Time Magazine Archive
Neither roaring forties nor Cape Horn hurricanes intimidated them.
From Drake, Nelson and Napoleon by Runciman, Walter
Ummenhofer said that recent research indicates the Roaring Forties is strengthening in the summer and shifting south into the region known as the Furious Fifties.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 16, 2019
A knockdown in the Roaring Forties about 400 miles south of the Cape of Good Hope damaged the self-steering.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2019
During the second leg — from Cape Town, through raucous seas whipped up by rocketing winds known as the Roaring Forties, to Sydney, Australia — all the boats were savagely battered.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2016
The fleet is currently deep in the South Atlantic, midway between Brazil and their eventual destination Cape Town, in the notorious high-wind Roaring Forties.
From Reuters ● Nov. 1, 2014
In December they reached the Roaring Forties of the North Atlantic and groped their way, close hauled, in the teeth of the gales.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
