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

On Wednesday, a loud explosion was heard near a vessel 95 nautical miles (around 109 miles) southeast of Aden, Yemen. — Todd Symons, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026

The mid-sized 737-8 carries 160 to 180 passengers across a range of up to 3,500 nautical miles (6,480 km), whereas the larger 737-9 accommodates 175 to 195 passengers with a maximum range of 3,300 nautical miles (6,110 km). — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 4 Aug. 2026

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization said an unknown projectile hit the vessel on Friday 11 nautical miles northeast of Lima, Oman. — ABC News, 1 Aug. 2026

For example, a rock generates a 12-nautical mile territorial sea but no exclusive economic zone. — Jill Goldenziel, Forbes.com, 30 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1830, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for nautical mile

• epicondyle
• geotextile
• nucleophile
• aisle
• bile
• chyle
• file
• guile
• heil
• isle
• kyle
• pile

Kids Definition

nautical mile

noun

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