nautical mile

noun

: any of various units of distance used for sea and air navigation based on the length of a minute of arc of a great circle of the earth and differing because the earth is not a perfect sphere: such as
a
: a British unit equal to 6080 feet (1853.2 meters)
b
: an international unit equal to exactly 1852 meters (6076.115 feet or 1.15 statute miles) used officially in the U.S. since July 1, 1954

Examples of nautical mile in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The one-minute tracking rule was designed to resolve that blind spot, by aiming to nail down a crash site to within a radius of six nautical miles. Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2024 Offering an alternative to regional business jets, the twin-turbine S-76 has a maximum range of 411 nautical miles (with no reserve) and a top speed of 178 mph. Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 24 Feb. 2024 According to the coast guard, an unnamed mainland Chinese vessel had trespassed within about one nautical mile off the coast of Kinmen - which lies nearer to mainland China than to Taiwan. Shawn Deng, CNN, 15 Feb. 2024 In the first incident, the coast guard was alerted to a boat drifting because of mechanical failure at sea, 46 nautical miles south of the island of Crete. Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 12 Feb. 2024 With the new propulsion setup, top speed jumped 20 percent, to 47 knots, while fuel consumption was lowered by 30 percent; the boat now has roughly 280 nautical miles of range at 30 knots. Julia Zaltzman, Robb Report, 18 Feb. 2024 For example, a ship traveling from a port in India to Italy takes approximately nine days, covering around 4,500 nautical miles. Jay Caruso, Washington Examiner, 4 Jan. 2024 Earlier on Monday the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations received a report of an attack on a commercial vessel sailing 15 nautical miles west of the port of Mocha, Yemen. Luis Martinez, ABC News, 11 Dec. 2023 Rotterdam, Netherlands Shanghai, China Suez Canal 11,000 nautical miles Red Sea Yemen Bab el-Mandeb Strait 14,000 nautical miles 8–10 days longer Cape of Good Hope Note: These times assume an average vessel speed of 16 knots. Anna Cooban, CNN, 8 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nautical mile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nautical mile was in 1830

Dictionary Entries Near nautical mile

Cite this Entry

“Nautical mile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nautical%20mile. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

nautical mile

noun
: any of various units of distance used for sea and air navigation equal to about 6076 feet (1852 meters)

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