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 final stats were impressive: 4,934 nautical miles at an average speed of 613.8 mph in 9 hours and 17 minutes.
—
Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 19 Mar. 2025
This area encompasses the continental U.S., Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the surrounding water out to some 500 nautical miles.
—Rebecca Falconer, Axios, 17 Mar. 2025
What To Know Five Chinese naval ships—including two Type 052D destroyers, one Type 075 amphibious assault ship, one Type 071 amphibious transport dock and one Type 903 replenishment ship—were 134 nautical miles southeast of Taiwan on Tuesday, a satellite image showed.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
Search crews dedicated over 190 hours to scouring 19,000 nautical miles for Lee using drones, aircraft and vessels, before suspending the search on Monday.
—Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2025
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Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 19 Mar. 2025
This area encompasses the continental U.S., Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the surrounding water out to some 500 nautical miles.
—Rebecca Falconer, Axios, 17 Mar. 2025
What To Know Five Chinese naval ships—including two Type 052D destroyers, one Type 075 amphibious assault ship, one Type 071 amphibious transport dock and one Type 903 replenishment ship—were 134 nautical miles southeast of Taiwan on Tuesday, a satellite image showed.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Feb. 2025
Search crews dedicated over 190 hours to scouring 19,000 nautical miles for Lee using drones, aircraft and vessels, before suspending the search on Monday.
—Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 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 29 Mar. 2025.
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