pearl harbor
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A naval base in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, United States: a US Navy base.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
purlhahrberSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɝlˈhɑɹbɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
military
A naval base in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, United States: a US Navy base
military
A harbor on Oahu to the west of Honolulu; location of a United States naval base that was attacked by the Japanese on 7 Dec 1941
A deep water harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, United States in the Pacific.
A sneak attack, often using underhanded measures.
A seminal dramatic event that unites a community and arouses it into action against an enemy.
A harbour in Manapouri, Fiordland, Southland, New Zealand, at the head of the Waiau River.
verb
often passive voiceslang
To attack by surprise; to subject to a sneak attack.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A naval base in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, United States: a US Navy base
Used this way, pearl harbor is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a military use: it belongs to service and operational language.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Military
- Historical writing
- News/reporting
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.