as in surge
a very high, large wave in the ocean that is usually caused by an earthquake under the sea and that can cause great destruction when it reaches land
The coastline will suffer devastating damage if a tsunami ever hits it.
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variants
also tsunami
as in seas
a very high, large wave in the ocean that is usually caused by an earthquake under the sea and that can cause great destruction when it reaches land
The coastline will suffer devastating damage if a tsunami ever hits it.
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Recent Examples of tsunami
Kate Plummer, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 July 2025
There is a blue and white wave painted on the sidewalk, the crest at the top of a cement square, municipal signage marking a tsunami evacuation route.
—Rebecca Chace
july 14, Literary Hub, 14 July 2025
Emily Blackwood, People.com, 18 Dec. 2024
Ocean floor mapping and new tsunami modeling simulations show that volcano collapses happen in increments rather than giant, mega-wave-making chunks.
—Emily Blackwood, People.com, 18 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for tsunami
Noun
The tsunami warning followed an 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a city in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
—Kate Plummer, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 July 2025
There is a blue and white wave painted on the sidewalk, the crest at the top of a cement square, municipal signage marking a tsunami evacuation route.
—Rebecca Chace
july 14, Literary Hub, 14 July 2025
Noun
In 2001, an academic paper was published that suggested the possibility of the La Palma volcano collapsing and causing tsunami waves up to 80 feet high along the east coasts of North and South America.
—Emily Blackwood, People.com, 18 Dec. 2024
Ocean floor mapping and new tsunami modeling simulations show that volcano collapses happen in increments rather than giant, mega-wave-making chunks.
—Emily Blackwood, People.com, 18 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for tsunami
Cite this Entry
“Tsunami.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tsunami. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.
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