Battle of Iwo Jima

1 6.5

A 1945 World War II battle where American forces took Iwo Jima from Japanese soldiers after heavy fighting

noun
/ˈbætəl əv ˈiːwoʊ ˈdʒiːmə/

: Batalla de Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the fiercest fights in the Pacific during World War II.

Examples

While fighting at the Battle of Iwo Jima six days after his 17th birthday, PFC Lucas shielded three fellow Marines from two grenades.
Many war memorials commemorate the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima.
The iconic photograph of U.S. Marines raising the flag was taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a significant event in World War II.
Many soldiers fought bravely during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
The Battle of Iwo Jima lasted 36 days and resulted in heavy casualties before the Marines secured the island.
From there, he flew dozens of sorties before his fighter was blown out from under him during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Synonyms

invasion of Iwo

vsBattle of Iwo Jima

8.6

A 1945 battle in which American forces capture Iwo Jima from Japanese defenders

focuses on the overall 1945 battle and intense fighting not only the landing

Surface Forms

Battle of Iwo Jima singular

Morphology

battle + of + Iwo + Jima

The phrase is a straightforward place-based event name: 'battle' + 'of' + a place-name, so a learner who knows 'battle' and the preposition 'of' can infer it refers to a military engagement that took place at Iwo Jima. The 'Battle of X' construction is cross-linguistically common and fully compositional, so the meaning is immediately derivable even if the learner does not know details about the island.

Etymology

Battle of Iwo Jima takes its name from the small island where the fighting happened: the Japanese words Iwo and Jima mean 'sulfur' and 'island', so the place was like a 'sulfur island' because of its hot, rocky ground. The name now refers to the famous 1945 fight there, remembered for very heavy fighting and the well-known photo of U.S. soldiers raising the flag.