- (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. 这艘船是从海洋深处打捞上来的。 People were swimming in the ocean despite the hurricane warning. 尽管有飓风警报，人们仍然在大海里游泳。 The plane hit the ocean several miles offshore. 飞机在距离海岸数英里处坠入大海。 Our beach house is just a couple of miles from the ocean. 我家滨海的房子离大海只有几英里。 ships large enough to sail the open ocean 大到足以在公海航行的船只 an ocean liner 远洋客轮 a species of fish that lives on the ocean floor 生活在海底的一种鱼 El Nino is a warm ocean current that appears off the coast of Peru during the winter. 厄尔尼诺是一种温暖的洋流，冬天出现在秘鲁海岸。 Ocean levels are rising. 海平面正在上升。
Extra ExamplesTopics Geographya2Before him lay the vast, endless ocean. 他眼前是辽阔的海洋，一望无际。 Various toxic substances have been dumped in the ocean. 多种有毒物质被倾倒进海洋。
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 南极海；北冰洋；大西洋；印度洋；太平洋 They travelled across oceans in search of a new life. 他们漂洋过海寻找新的生命。
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. 今天早上一名游泳者在海里淹死了。
- The names of particular areas of seas, however, are fixed:
然而，特定的海洋名称用 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. 我们六月份要在海滨度假一个星期。
We’re going to the beach for vacation. 我们要去海滨度假。
Extra Examplesa vessel which can explore the depths of the great oceans 能在大洋深处进行勘探的船 great ships that sailed the oceans of the world 在世界各大洋上航行的巨轮 penguins of the southern oceans 南大洋的企鹅 trade across the Atlantic Ocean 跨越大西洋的贸易往来
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 沧海一粟；九牛一毛 The amount of money raised was a drop in the ocean compared to what we needed. 与我们所需要的相比，筹集的资金只是沧海一粟。
an ocean of something
(also oceans of something)
- (informal)
a large amount of something 众多；大量