OCEAN


Meaning of OCEAN in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ oʊʃ(ə)n ]

( oceans)

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.

1.

The ocean is the sea.

There were few sights as beautiful as the calm ocean on a warm night.

N-SING : the N

2.

An ocean is one of the five very large areas of sea on the Earth’s surface.

They spent many days cruising the northern Pacific Ocean.

...the Indian Ocean.

N-COUNT ; N-IN-NAMES

3.

If you say that there is an ocean of something, you are emphasizing that there is a very large amount of it. ( INFORMAL )

I had cried oceans of tears...

APEC seems be drowning in an ocean of jargon.

N-COUNT : N of n [ emphasis ]

4.

If you say that something is a drop in the ocean , you mean that it is a very small amount which is unimportant compared to the cost of other things or is so small that it has very little effect on something.

His fee is a drop in the ocean compared with the real cost of broadcasting.

PHRASE : usu v-link PHR [ emphasis ]

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Английский словарь Коллинз COBUILD для изучающих язык на продвинутом уровне.