Pearl Harbour1
/ˌpəːl ˈhɑːbə/(US Pearl Harbor)
noun
A sudden attack, especially one mounted without warning and bringing disaster; an unexpected and disastrous setback.
- Used with allusion to the military attack by Japanese aircraft on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which, delivered without a declaration of war, severely damaged the surprised U.S. Pacific fleet and began the Pacific phase of the Second World War (1939–45)..
Origin
1940s; earliest use found in Capital (Topeka, Kansas). From Pearl Harbor, the name of a U.S. naval base on Oahu, one of the Hawaiian Islands, after Hawaiian Wai Momi, lit. ‘pearl waters’ from wai water + momi pearl.
Pearl Harbour2
/ˌpəːl ˈhɑːbə/(US Pearl Harbor)
verb
[with object] To attack suddenly and without warning.
- See note s.v. Pearl Harbour..
Origin
1940s. From Pearl Harbour.