Tarawa

American  

[tuh-rah-wuh, tar-uh-wah, tah-rah-wah] / təˈrɑ wə, ˈtær əˌwɑ, ˈtɑ rɑˌwɑ /

noun

1. one of the Gilbert Islands, in the central Pacific; capital, since 1979, of the independent nation of Kiribati: U.S. victory over Japanese forces after severe fighting, November, 1943. 14 sq. mi. (36 sq. km).

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Tarawa British  

/ təˈrɑːwə /

noun

1. an atoll in Kiribati, occupying a chain of islets surrounding a lagoon in the W central Pacific: the capital of Kiribati, Bairiki, is on this atoll. Pop: 45 989 (2005)

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Example Sentences

The New York Times wrote after Tarawa in 1943 that “we must steel ourselves now to pay that price” going forward.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

Those include an embassy in Honiara, Solomon Islands, that opened in January; an embassy in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, that opened in May and planned embassies in Port Vila, Vanuatu, and in Tarawa, Kiribati.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 13, 2023

The Chinese currently operate a space tracking station on Tarawa atoll in Kiribati.

From Washington Times • Jul. 15, 2022

And unlike the jungles of Vietnam or the surf-pounded beaches of Tarawa Atoll, it was comparably difficult to lose sight of a comrade in the dry, open terrain of Afghanistan.

From New York Times • Oct. 5, 2021

A Marine who had island-hopped across the Pacific from Tarawa to Iwo Jima, Ed had seen the world by the time he was twenty and come back to West Virginia to forget it.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam