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

As for grunt, Heed is powered by twin diesel Caterpillar C32 engines (totaling 2,230 hp) that give her a top speed of 17 knots, a cruising speed of 13 knots, and a range of 4,000 nautical miles. — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 30 Sep. 2026

One of the most demanding tests was a long-endurance mission simulation covering 420 nautical miles. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026

Last month, Customs Air and Marine Operations agents stopped a boat about 22 nautical miles from Miami-Dade County carrying 19 people from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026

Using advanced autonomous systems designed for man/machine teaming, the Wildfire is likely to be turbo-prop powered, with a ferry range of 8,000 nautical miles (9,206 miles, 14,816 km). — New Atlas, 16 Sep. 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)