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
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Japan's sovereignty extends to the airspace over its territorial sea that measures 12 nautical miles (13.8 miles) from its coastline, says the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which lays down a regime of law and order in the world's oceans and seas.
—
David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Apr. 2025
The glide bombs, which carry 200 pounds of explosives apiece, can be launched more than 70 nautical miles from their targets.
—Eric Schmitt, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
Figure 4 shows an example of a daytime camera image in degraded visibility conditions, of a 1 m wide buoy at a range of 2 nautical miles (3.6 miles).
—Sabbir Rangwala, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
As this column has explained before, the alternate route of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope instead of directly crossing the Red Sea adds an extra 3,500 nautical miles, 10 days, and $1 million in additional travel.
—Tiana Lowe Doescher, The Washington Examiner, 28 Mar. 2025
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David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Apr. 2025
The glide bombs, which carry 200 pounds of explosives apiece, can be launched more than 70 nautical miles from their targets.
—Eric Schmitt, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
Figure 4 shows an example of a daytime camera image in degraded visibility conditions, of a 1 m wide buoy at a range of 2 nautical miles (3.6 miles).
—Sabbir Rangwala, Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
As this column has explained before, the alternate route of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope instead of directly crossing the Red Sea adds an extra 3,500 nautical miles, 10 days, and $1 million in additional travel.
—Tiana Lowe Doescher, The Washington Examiner, 28 Mar. 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 Apr. 2025.
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