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

Elsewhere, the cargo ship that was deemed a loss was struck about 40 nautical miles (74 kilometers) southeast of Mokha, Yemen, the UKMTO center reported. — Samy Magdy, Fortune, 19 Aug. 2026

Following what SpaceX said was 24 days at sea, the upper stage was hauled off the coast of Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean about 840 nautical miles northwest of the mainland. — Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026

The yacht can cover 2,000 nautical miles at 25 knots and 4,000 nautical miles at 11 knots, according to Silver. — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 12 Aug. 2026

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

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)