nautical mile
a unit of distance used chiefly in navigation, equal to 6080.20 feet (1853.25 meters) in the United States, now replaced by the international nautical mile.
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Origin of nautical mile
1- Also called geographical mile, sea mile .
Words Nearby nautical mile
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use nautical mile in a sentence
Only on the equator is a minute of longitude and a nautical mile of the same length.
Lectures in Navigation | Ernest Gallaudet DraperNow you have already learned that a minute of latitude is always equal to a nautical mile.
Lectures in Navigation | Ernest Gallaudet DraperIts breaking strain is 135 cwt., and cost about 357 per nautical mile.
Torpedoes and Torpedo Warfare | C. W. SleemanIts breaking strain 65 cwt., and cost about 127 per nautical mile.
Torpedoes and Torpedo Warfare | C. W. SleemanThe drums used for reeling a multiple cable on, are capable of holding half a nautical mile in length.
Torpedoes and Torpedo Warfare | C. W. Sleeman
British Dictionary definitions for nautical mile
Also called: international nautical mile, air mile a unit of length, used esp in navigation, equivalent to the average length of a minute of latitude, and corresponding to a latitude of 45°, i.e. 1852 m (6076.12 ft)
a former British unit of length equal to 1853.18 m (6080 ft), which was replaced by the international nautical mile in 1970: Former name: geographical mile Compare sea mile
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
Scientific definitions for nautical mile
[ nô′tĭ-kəl ]
A unit of length in the US Customary System, used in air and sea navigation and equal to 6,076 feet or 2,025 yards (1,852 meters). Also called geographic mile See Table at measurement.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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