(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
The ~ is the sea.
There were few sights as beautiful as the calm ~ on a warm night.
N-SING: the N
2.
An ~ 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 ~ of something, you are emphasizing that there is a very large amount of it. (INFORMAL)
I had cried ~s of tears...
APEC seems be drowning in an ~ of jargon.
N-COUNT: N of n emphasis
4.
If you say that something is a drop in the ~, 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 ~ compared with the real cost of broadcasting.
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR emphasis