Pearl Harbor
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Pearl Harbor
- /ˌpɝ˞l ˈhɑɹbɚ/ US
- /ˌpɜːl ˈhɑːbə/ UK
Where it comes from
Calque of Hawaiian Wai Momi (“pearl water”). The extended senses allude to the surprise attack executed by the Imperial Japanese Navy on the harbor on December 7, 1941.
proper noun Pearl Harbour
- A deep water harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, United States in the Pacific.
- A naval base in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, United States: a US Navy base Bluto: What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! Otter: [to Boon] Germans? Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
- Alternative form of Pearl Harbour.Pearl Harbour
- The attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor happened in 1941 and was the direct cause of the United States' entry into World War II.
noun Pearl Harbors · Pearl Harbour
- A sneak attack, often using underhanded measures. Most Americans wanted no more Pearl Harbors, but they now expected Germany to attempt one.
- A seminal dramatic event that unites a community and arouses it into action against an enemy. For all practical purposes, the United States is undergoing an electronic Pearl Harbor, and the target is one of the most crucial segments of our way of life: Information.
verb Pearl Harbors · Pearl Harboring · Pearl Harbored · Pearl Harbour
- To attack by surprise; to subject to a sneak attack. The first and second ships had been successfully Pearl Harbored. The third was not to be surprised. As we approached, she dropped her net and fled. We pursued.
- To take rudely by surprise. Of course, with the Soviets' launch of Sputnik, the Americans had been Pearl Harbored in space.
