Pearl Harbor
91
3.7
- proper noun
- /pɜrl ˈhɑrbər/
:
Pearl Harbor
- In 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor marked a turning point in United States history.
- Pearl Harbor attack
- Pearl Harbor bombing
- Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
That's where Honolulu is the the big city, that's where that's where you can, you can fly into that airport and that's where Pearl Harbor is.
- That's where Honolulu is the the big city, that's where that's where you can, you can fly into that airport and that's where Pearl Harbor is.
- A Navy pilot called John Frum after after the big thing in Hawaii where the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
- And one guy, Raymond Harry, who is from the state of Rhode Island, never talked about the USS Arizona after after Pearl Harbor.
- How did America react to to Pearl Harbor?
Examples
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After the December 7, 1941, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was battered and humiliated.
Academic text (2014) -
The U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor was the target of a surprise attack by Japan on December 7, 1941.
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The national emergency was referred to as the worst "attack on America" since Pearl Harbor.
Academic text (2004) -
Japanese tend to see the Pearl Harbor attack in the same light.
Academic text (1994) -
Twenty days later, four days after Pearl Harbor, the United States was at war with all the Axis Powers.
Fiction book (2002) -
On December the seventh, 1941 Japan attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor.
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After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, films increasingly reflected support for America's involvement in the war.
Academic text (2014) -
Visitors can learn about the history of Pearl Harbor at the memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives during the attack.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Pearl + harbor
Knowing 'pearl' and 'harbor' lets a learner infer this is a harbor named Pearl — the basic locational sense is compositionally clear. However, the specific encyclopedic/historical meaning (a U.S. naval base in Hawaii famously attacked in 1941) is a proper-name, world-knowledge fact that cannot be derived from the constituents, so the expression is not fully transparent.
Etymology
Pearl Harbor was named for the pearl oysters once found in the bay, so pearl and harbor are literal words for the place. Because a surprise 'attack' happened there in 1941, the name also makes people think of that important event and the United States joining World War II.