Pearl Harbor

Meanings

Proper Noun

• A deep water harbor on Oahu, Hawaii.
• A US Navy base at the harbor.
• The attack on Pearl Harbor.

Noun

• A sneak attack, often using underhanded measures.
• A seminal dramatic event that unites a community and arouses it into action against an enemy.

Verb

• To attack by surprise; to subject to a sneak attack.
• To take rudely by surprise.

Origin

• . The extended senses allude to the surprise attack executed by the Imperial Japanese Navy on the harbor on December 7, 1941.