roaring forties

plural noun

1. either of two areas in the ocean between 40° and 50° N or S latitude, noted for high winds and rough seas.

Roaring Forties

plural noun

1. the Roaring Forties
   nautical the areas of ocean between 40° and 50° latitude in the S Hemisphere, noted for gale-force winds

Word History and Origins

Origin of roaring forties¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

The roaring forties describes the area between the latitudes 40 and 50 south of the equator - notorious for strong winds.

From BBC

She adds: "We are on the edge of the roaring forties, we are just a small rock in the middle of the south Atlantic, so we do have some pretty extreme weather."

From BBC

The southern latitudes—from forty degrees south latitude to the Antarctic Circle at sixty-seven degrees south latitude—long ago earned their nicknames from the sailors who dared approach the continent: the Roaring Forties, the Furious Fifties, and the Screaming Sixties.

From Literature

The rest of that night, and for six days and nights that followed, Nat found out what men meant by the Roaring Forties of the North Atlantic.

From Literature

A month later they had weathered the Roaring Forties o£ the North Atlantic.

From Literature