sea-water
Definition
- Noun:
- Water from a sea or ocean: "sea-water" refers to the saline (salty) water found in seas and oceans, distinguished from fresh water by its high salt content.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- The desalination plant converts sea-water into drinking water. (The facility transforms salty ocean water into potable fresh water.)
- Sea-water is denser than fresh water, making it easier to float in. (The salty water has a higher density, aiding buoyancy.)
Advanced Usage
"to taste like sea-water": to have a very salty flavor, often used figuratively.
- After swimming in the ocean, her lips tasted like sea-water. (Her lips had a distinct salty taste from the ocean.)
"sea-water intrusion": the movement of salty sea-water into fresh water aquifers, often due to over-extraction.
- Coastal wells are threatened by sea-water intrusion. (Salt water is seeping into underground fresh water sources.)
Variants and Related Words
Sea-water (adj): describing something related to or containing sea-water.
- The sea-water aquarium houses marine species. (The tank contains water from the ocean and shows ocean animals.)
Seawater (n): a variant spelling (common in technical contexts).
- Seawater composition varies by location and depth. (The chemical makeup of ocean water changes.)
Synonyms
- Salt water: water containing dissolved salts, typically from oceans.
- Brine: highly concentrated salt water, often used for pickling or in industrial contexts.
- Ocean water: water from an ocean, synonymous with sea-water but slightly broader.
Related Idioms
"to drink sea-water": an idiom meaning to engage in a futile or harmful activity.
- Trying to negotiate with a stubborn person is like drinking sea-water — it only makes you thirstier. (The action is counterproductive and leads to more problems.)
"sea-water tears": poetic or literary expression for very salty tears.
- She wept sea-water tears at the loss of her home. (Her tears were as salty and abundant as the ocean.)