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
Crews searched 84 nautical miles for swimmer According to a joint statement from the Coast Guard, City of Pacific Grove, and City of Monterey, the search ended on Monday after 15 hours and more than 84 square nautical miles.
—
Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
The Coast Guard and police said Monday evening that the search for Fox was suspended after a 15-hour effort that covered 84 square nautical miles.
—Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 22 Dec. 2025
In addition, the NTSB found that between October 2021 and December 2024, there had been 15,214 occurrences between commercial airplanes and helicopters in which the aircraft were within one nautical mile of each other with a vertical separation of less than 400 feet.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 18 Dec. 2025
As for range, estimates have circulated of around 10,000 nautical miles (18,520 km) or more.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nautical mile
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
The Coast Guard and police said Monday evening that the search for Fox was suspended after a 15-hour effort that covered 84 square nautical miles.
—Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 22 Dec. 2025
In addition, the NTSB found that between October 2021 and December 2024, there had been 15,214 occurrences between commercial airplanes and helicopters in which the aircraft were within one nautical mile of each other with a vertical separation of less than 400 feet.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 18 Dec. 2025
As for range, estimates have circulated of around 10,000 nautical miles (18,520 km) or more.
—Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 14 Dec. 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 27 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share