three-mile limit

[ three-mahyl lim-it ]
See synonyms for three-mile limit on Thesaurus.com
nounInternational Law.
  1. the limit of the territorial waters of 3 miles (4.8 km), which is included within the jurisdiction of the state or nation possessing the coast.

Origin of three-mile limit

1
First recorded in 1890–95

Words Nearby three-mile limit

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use three-mile limit in a sentence

  • You have the right, as captain of a ship outside the three-mile limit, to marry folks in an emergency.

    Blow The Man Down | Holman Day
  • The Colleen was pretty well inshore then, and yet safe outside the three-mile limit in our judgment.

    The Seiners | James B. (James Brendan) Connolly
  • As a matter of fact, outside the three-mile limit, she practically owns the waters of the world.

    The War After the War | Isaac Frederick Marcosson
  • Beyond the three-mile limit, the ocean becomes the "high seas," and is then open to anybody.

  • The water was as a general rule too deep outside the three-mile limit for legitimate fishing.

    A Labrador Doctor | Wilfred Thomason Grenfell

British Dictionary definitions for three-mile limit

three-mile limit

noun
  1. international law the range of a nation's territorial waters, extending to three nautical miles from shore

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012