Indian Ocean

[in-dee-uhn oh-shuhn]

noun

1. an ocean south of Asia, east of Africa, and west of Australia, with its deepest section in the Java Trench. 27,243,268 square miles (70,560,000 square kilometers).

Indian Ocean

noun

1. an ocean bordered by Africa in the west, Asia in the north, and Australia in the east and merging with the Antarctic Ocean in the south. Average depth: 3900 m (13 000 ft). Greatest depth (off the Sunda Islands): 7450 m (24 442 ft). In December 2004 a major undersea earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami which affected large areas of the ocean as far away as east Africa, and killed an estimated 226 435 people. Area: about 73 556 000 sq km (28 400 000 sq miles)

Indian Ocean

1. Third-largest ocean (after the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean), extending from southern Asia to Antarctica and from eastern Africa to southeastern Australia.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Indian Ocean¹

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

Nearly 130 years later pressure from the king's descendants as well as the government of the Indian Ocean nation has opened the way for the skull's return.

From BBC

The launch was successful — for just over three minutes, at which point it failed, plunging rocket and satellite to a watery grave in the Indian Ocean.

From Los Angeles Times

An outbreak of the virus is under way in the Indian Ocean region, and almost all of the infections were linked to travel in India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.

From BBC

One of the tragedies of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was a lack of warning.

From Los Angeles Times

Millions of people were evacuated, as minds cast back to the devastating tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 in the Indian Ocean and Japan 2011, both triggered by similarly large earthquakes.

From BBC