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 Chinese coast guard ships were later spotted retreating to the islands' contiguous zone that extends 24 nautical miles from the coastline.
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Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 May 2025
The Coast Guard said in an April 15 news release that its crews and partners logged more than 240 hours searching 200,000-plus square nautical miles looking for Hind.
—Sara Schilling, Sacbee.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Any country can allow deep-sea mining in its own territorial waters, roughly up to 200 nautical miles from shore, and companies are already lining up to mine U.S. waters.
—Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw, USA Today, 26 Apr. 2025
Under the Trump administration's new order, U.S.-flagged vessels are allowed to fish commercially within 50 to 200 nautical miles of the boundaries of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.
—Kelli Bender, People.com, 18 Apr. 2025
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Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 May 2025
The Coast Guard said in an April 15 news release that its crews and partners logged more than 240 hours searching 200,000-plus square nautical miles looking for Hind.
—Sara Schilling, Sacbee.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Any country can allow deep-sea mining in its own territorial waters, roughly up to 200 nautical miles from shore, and companies are already lining up to mine U.S. waters.
—Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw, USA Today, 26 Apr. 2025
Under the Trump administration's new order, U.S.-flagged vessels are allowed to fish commercially within 50 to 200 nautical miles of the boundaries of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.
—Kelli Bender, People.com, 18 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nautical mile
Cite this Entry
“Nautical mile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nautical%20mile. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
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