dead water


noun
  1. water eddying beside a moving hull, especially directly astern.

  2. a part of a stream where there is a slack current.

Origin of dead water

1
First recorded in 1555–65

Words Nearby dead water

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dead water in a sentence

  • I crept up the dead water under the bank, and hadn't no accidents and didn't see nobody.

    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
  • It is known that there is a small bay and dead water for some distance within its mouth.

    The Indian in his Wigwam | Henry R. Schoolcraft
  • When the level is driven correctly, with the proper depth of water, it is said to have dead water at the forehead.

  • On the ceiling a spot of light flickered with the reflection of the dead water, constantly crossed by lines of shadow.

    Woman Triumphant | Vicente Blasco Ibaez
  • It was a little sheet of marshy water, surrounded by reeds, on which floated some dead water-lily leaves.