: the whole body of salt water that covers nearly three fourths of the surface of the earth
The ocean covers most of our planet, regulates our weather and climate, absorbs vast amounts of carbon dioxide, provides most of our oxygen, and feeds much of the human population.National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
b
: any of the large bodies of water into which the great ocean is divided
the oceans of the world
2
: a very large or unlimited quantity or expanse
Could have made oceans of money. James Joyce
He would have oceans of time for his ride. P. G. Wodehouse
Jutting from an ocean of prairie, they [the Sangre de Cristo mountains] run north-south like an iguana spine …Skiing
We've sailed across hundreds of miles of ocean. the Pacific and Indian oceans
Recent Examples on the WebThe black-tie ceremony began just as the sun started to set over the ocean, and the aesthetic was minimal, tropical, and masculine. Alexandra Macon, Vogue, 15 Sep. 2022 Being able to connect in healthy ways and get in the ocean every morning was super important to me. Melinda Newman, Billboard, 15 Sep. 2022 Police work along a stretch of beach at Coney Island after a mother is suspected of drowning her children in the ocean on September 12, 2022 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. C Mandler, CBS News, 14 Sep. 2022 Another shorebird, the whimbrel, also makes a phenomenally long journey over the ocean. Tom Langen, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Sep. 2022 This year’s hurricane season has started off slowly, partly because the Sahara Desert’s dry air hang over the ocean for an unusually long time. Alexander Onukwue, Quartz, 8 Sep. 2022 California’s most notable encounter with a tropical system was probably in 1976 when Tropical Storm Kathleen, previously a hurricane over the ocean, entered south central California from Mexico. Jason Samenow, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2022 These powerful storms form over the ocean and can be 2,000 miles long and 500 miles wide and cause devastating flooding, as happened in Yellowstone National Park earlier this year. Laura Helmuth, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2022 Every room on the north side of the house has frameless floor-to-ceiling glass windows with views that stretch over the ocean and coastline from Santa Monica to Malibu. Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 12 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English occean "the sea flowing around the land mass of the known world," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin Ōceanus, borrowed from Greek Ōkeanós, probably of pre-Greek substratal origin
Note: Preserved variants of Greek Ōkeanós, as Ōgḗn, Ōgenós, Ōgēnós, may indicate that the velar stop, whatever its original voicing, was palatalized (hence *ūkʸān-?)—strongly suggesting non-Indo-European origin. Old attempts to find an Indo-European origin (as a comparison with Sanskrit ā-śayāna- "lying on") are unconvincing.