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amphibious operation

amphibious operation

1 8.1
A military action that lands soldiers from ships onto a shore
  • noun
  • /æmˈfɪbiəs ˌɒpəˈreɪʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : operación anfibia
  • A more probable scenario would be an amphibious operation against the Taiwanese-held islands off the mainland.
  • large-scale amphibious operation

Examples

  • First, we have the amphibious operation conducted by a Norman fleet that transported hundreds of soldiers.

    Academic text (2010)
  • To seize the island, a very large, well-coordinated, amphibious operation would have to take place.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The 1942 landings in North Africa provided some lessons for a large-scale amphibious operation.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Senior service leadership is directing the Marines to take the lessons learned from fighting the ground war in Iraq and Afghanistan and return to their core competencies of amphibious operations, sea-based forward presence, and crisis response.

    Blog text (19)
  • The military planned an amphibious operation to land troops on the beach during the night.

  • During World War II, the success of the amphibious operation at Normandy changed the course of the war.

  • The upcoming amphibious operation will involve both naval ships and ground forces to ensure a coordinated attack.

Synonyms

amphibious assault
vsamphibious operation
  • Specialized
3 8.4

A military attack where soldiers move from ships to land

is a general combined sea and land action that can include nonattack tasks
amphibious landing
vsamphibious operation
  • Specialized
2 8.3

A military attack in which troops move from ships or planes onto an enemy shore

is any joint sea and land action, not always an invasion or air role

How Aggressive

amphibious assault
  • Specialized
3 8.4
amphibious landing
  • Specialized
2 8.3
amphibious operation
  • Specialized
1 8.1
amphibious demonstration
  • Specialized
9.5

Surface Forms

Morphology

amphibious + operation

The meaning 'a military operation involving both land and sea forces' is directly and transparently built from 'amphibious' (capable of functioning on land and water) + 'operation' (a planned military action). This is a straightforward compositional noun phrase that follows normal English semantics and cross-linguistic logic, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Amphibious operation comes from the simple image of troops leaving ships, moving through the water, and stepping onto a beach. The word amphibious means on both 'land' and 'sea' and operation means a planned military action, so the phrase refers to a military action that lands forces from the sea onto the shore.