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 day before, Roy Bates had also extended the Principality of Sealand’s waters to 12 nautical miles from land. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 June 2026

Flores and Álvarez, on one of the skiffs, were floating approximately fifteen nautical miles east of the Fiorella. — Will Freeman, New Yorker, 30 June 2026

From the Dallas Stadium, an unauthorized aircraft cannot come within three nautical miles or fly 3,000 feet ground-to-air. — Marvin Hurst, CBS News, 26 June 2026

The vessel continued its voyage and is about 110 nautical miles (125 miles) off the eastern coast of Oman. — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 26 June 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)