high seas

English

Noun

high seas pl (plural only)

1. (nautical) Regions of the ocean that are far from shore, especially those regions that do not belong to any country.

   Synonyms: open ocean, open sea

   • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

     From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. . . . For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

2. (slang) Regions of the Internet in which piracy (i.e. copyright infringement) is prevalent.

   I was out on the high seas yesterday and got myself a new mathematics book.

Usage notes

• Usually used in the plural form, although examples with the uncountable form high sea can be found, as in:

• c. 1830, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 16, in The Water Witch:

  "[T]he commander of this vessel must get a passport of Her Majesty's cruiser, ere she again enter the high sea."

• Often used in the phrase on the high seas.

Translations

regions of ocean far from shore

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 遠海／远海 (zh) (yuǎnhǎi), 公海 (zh) (gōnghǎi)

• Dutch: hoge zee f, volle zee f
• Finnish: avomeri (fi), ulkomeri
• French: haute mer (fr) f, large (fr) m, grand large m, pleine mer (fr) f
• Galician: alto mar m
• Georgian: ღია ზღვა (ɣia zɣva)
• German: Hochsee f
• Hebrew: הַיָּם הַפָּתוּחַ (he) m (hayam hapatuakh)
• Hungarian: nyílt tenger (hu), nemzetközi vizek
• Icelandic: aðalhaf n
• Indonesian: laut lepas (id)
• Ingrian: avomeri
• Italian: alto mare m
• Japanese: 公海 (ja) (こうかい, kōkai)
• Polish: głębokie morze n
• Portuguese: alto-mar (pt) m, largo (pt) m
• Romanian: larg (ro) n
• Russian: откры́тое мо́ре (ru) n (otkrýtoje móre)
• Spanish: alta mar (es) f, altamar f
• Swahili: majimakuu (sw)
• Turkish: açık deniz (tr), engin (tr)
• Welsh: môr tawch m, moroedd tawchion m pl