- (usually the ocean)[singular] (especially North American English)
the mass of salt water that covers most of the earth’s surface 大海；海洋 
The ship was dredged from the depths of the ocean. 這艘船是從海洋深處打撈上來的。 People were swimming in the ocean despite the hurricane warning. 盡管有飓風警報，人們仍然在大海裏遊泳。 The plane hit the ocean several miles offshore. 飛機在距離海岸數英裏處墜入大海。 Our beach house is just a couple of miles from the ocean. 我家濱海的房子離大海只有幾英裏。 ships large enough to sail the open ocean 大到足以在公海航行的船只 an ocean liner 遠洋客輪 a species of fish that lives on the ocean floor 生活在海底的一種魚 El Nino is a warm ocean current that appears off the coast of Peru during the winter. 厄爾尼諾是一種溫暖的洋流，冬天出現在秘魯海岸。 Ocean levels are rising. 海平面正在上升。
Extra ExamplesTopics Geographya2Before him lay the vast, endless ocean. 他眼前是遼闊的海洋，一望無際。 Various toxic substances have been dumped in the ocean. 多種有毒物質被傾倒進海洋。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- deep
- vast
- great
- …
- cross
- sail
- explore
- …
- depths
- surface
- bed
- …
- across the ocean
- in the ocean
- the bottom of the ocean
- the depths of the ocean
- the middle of the ocean
- …
- (usually Ocean)[countable]
one of the five large areas that the ocean is divided into （五大洋之一的）洋 the Antarctic/Arctic/Atlantic/Indian/Pacific Ocean 南極海；北冰洋；大西洋；印度洋；太平洋 They travelled across oceans in search of a new life. 他們漂洋過海尋找新的生命。
British/American sea / oceansea / ocean- In British English, the usual word for the mass of salt water that covers most of the earth’s surface is the sea. In North American English, the usual word is the ocean:
A swimmer drowned in the sea/ocean this morning. 今天早上一名遊泳者在海裏淹死了。
- The names of particular areas of seas, however, are fixed:
然而，特定的海洋名稱用 sea 或 ocean 是固定的： the Mediterranean Sea 地中海 the Atlantic Ocean. 大西洋。
- Sea/ocean are also used if you go to the coast on holiday:
We’re spending a week by the sea/at the ocean in June. 我們六月份要在海濱度假一個星期。
We’re going to the beach for vacation. 我們要去海濱度假。
Extra Examplesa vessel which can explore the depths of the great oceans 能在大洋深處進行勘探的船 great ships that sailed the oceans of the world 在世界各大洋上航行的巨輪 penguins of the southern oceans 南大洋的企鵝 trade across the Atlantic Ocean 跨越大西洋的貿易往來
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- deep
- vast
- great
- …
- cross
- sail
- explore
- …
- depths
- surface
- bed
- …
- across the ocean
- in the ocean
- the bottom of the ocean
- the depths of the ocean
- the middle of the ocean
- …
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French occean, via Latin from Greek ōkeanos ‘great stream encircling the earth's disc’. “The ocean” originally referred to the whole body of water thought to encompass the earth's single land mass.
Idioms
a drop in the ocean (British English)
(North American English a drop in the bucket)
an amount of something that is too small or unimportant to make any real difference to a situation 滄海一粟；九牛一毛 The amount of money raised was a drop in the ocean compared to what we needed. 與我們所需要的相比，籌集的資金只是滄海一粟。
an ocean of something
(also oceans of something)
- (informal)
a large amount of something 衆多；大量