Meaning & use
ocean
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
One of the very large areas of salt water that together cover most of the Earth's surface.
Grammar: Use the for a specific one: the Pacific Ocean; use the ocean for the sea in general.
Patterns
- across the ocean
- in the ocean
The ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean in six days.
Whales travel thousands of miles through the ocean.
We stayed in a hotel overlooking the ocean.
nouncountableinformalfigurative
A very large amount of something.
Grammar: Usually followed by of, and often plural: oceans of time.
Patterns
- an ocean of something
- oceans of something
There were oceans of food at the wedding.
She had an ocean of patience.
The cave contained oceans of dark, silent space.
Word forms
| plural | oceans |
|---|
Common combinations
- Pacific Ocean
- The Pacific Ocean is the largest on Earth.
- across the ocean
- Her family lives across the ocean.
- ocean floor
- Scientists mapped the ocean floor.
- ocean current
- A warm ocean current heats the coast.
- ocean view
- We booked a room with an ocean view.
- a drop in the ocean
- My donation is just a drop in the ocean.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sea
- It is smaller than an ocean and partly enclosed by land, though people use it loosely for either.
- the deep
- It is literary and refers to the open water far from shore.
- the main
- It is an old poetic name for the open sea.
- waters
- It is a vague word that need not mean a full ocean.
Opposites
Word family
- oceanic adjective
- relating to the ocean
- oceanography noun
- the scientific study of the oceans
- oceanographer noun
- a scientist who studies the oceans
- ocean-going adjective
- able to travel across oceans
- transoceanic adjective
- crossing the ocean
Commonly confused: ocean or sea?
ocean vs sea
A sea is generally smaller than an ocean and partly enclosed, like the Mediterranean, but everyday speech often mixes them.
Practice
The Atlantic, Pacific and Indian are all examples of an ______.
Choose one answer.
These three are among the large bodies of salt water called oceans. The other options are land features or fresh water.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ocean”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.