tsunami: [19] Japanese tsunami means literally ‘harbour waves’, a reference to the devastating effect Pacific tsunamis have had on Japanese coastal communities. For most of the 20th century the term was largely restricted to the specialized vocabulary of oceanographers and earth scientists, lay people preferring the more familiar tidal wave (a misnomer: strictly speaking, a tidal wave is one caused by the movement of the tide, whereas a tsunami is specifically generated by an undersea earthquake), but the disastrous inundation of southern Asian coasts at the end of 2004 lodged it firmly in the language’s everyday lexicon.
tsunami (n.)
1896, in reference to the one that struck Japan that year on June 15, from Japanese tsunami, from tsu "harbor" + nami "waves."
双语例句
1. Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan ( AP ).
大地震触发了日本的海啸预警.
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2. We just did a tsunami exercise, even ( though ) that's less likely.
尽管海啸发生的可能比较小, 但我们刚举行了一次演习.
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3. Derek : Have you heard of any benefit concert for the tsunami?
你有没有听说要为这次海啸开公益音乐会的?
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4. John: Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.
约翰: 大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了.
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5. May 22 , 1960, the Chilean sea tsunami waves of 25 meters.
