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Mombasa

American  
[mom-bah-sah, -bas-uh] / mɒmˈbɑ sɑ, -ˈbæs ə /

noun

  1. an island in S Kenya.

  2. a seaport on this island.


Mombasa British  
/ mɒmˈbæsə /

noun

  1. a port in S Kenya, on a coral island in a bay of the Indian Ocean: the chief port for Kenya, Uganda, and NE Tanzania; became British in 1887, capital of the East African Protectorate until 1907. Pop: 828 000 (2005 est)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

As a result, "six to eight million kilos" are stuck in Mombasa, he told AFP.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

He is standing outside a mosque in Mtwapa, a town outside Mombasa.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

"Cargo takes an average of 80 hours to move from Mombasa to Malaba and more than 100 hours to reach Kampala," the Ugandan capital, Ruto said.

From Barron's • Mar. 21, 2026

Much of this comes from the $5 billion Chinese-funded railway linking Mombasa, Nairobi and Naivasha -- Kenya's costliest project since independence.

From Barron's • Nov. 28, 2025

Twenty-one days after leaving London we steamed into Mombasa, the coastal port of Kenya.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall