Northwest Passage

American

noun

a ship route along the Arctic coast of Canada and Alaska, joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Northwest Passage British

noun

the passage by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the N coast of America: attempted for over 300 years by Europeans seeking a short route to the Far East, before being successfully navigated by Amundsen (1903–06)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Northwest Passage Cultural

A sea route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through northwestern America, often sought by early explorers. There is an actual Northwest Passage, but it requires sailing through far northern waters that are icebound much of the year.

Etymology

Origin of Northwest Passage

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“There’s less and less sea ice every year. Maybe if it gets hot enough, the Northwest Passage will open up and suddenly Canada will be shipping lots of stuff to Russia and Japan.”

From Literature

The first explorer to complete the Northwest Passage solely by ship was Norwegian seafarer Roald Amundsen, from 1903 to 1906, more than 400 years after the first recorded attempt.

From The Wall Street Journal

Its government was possessed with the desire to find what English geographic experts were certain was a Northwest Passage through the Arctic.

From Literature

Grays Bay is approximately in the centre of the so-called Northwest Passage, the Arctic sea route north of the Canadian mainland.

From BBC

Alex says that despite the peril of the journey, he has wanted to traverse the Northwest Passage for a long time.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023