low-water mark

American  

noun

1. the lowest point reached by a low tide.

2. something indicating the bottom of a decline.

3. the lowest or least admirable level.

   the low-water mark of political chicanery.

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low-water mark British  

noun

1. the level reached by seawater at low tide or by other stretches of water at their lowest level

2. the lowest point or level; nadir

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Etymology

Origin of low-water mark

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

It looked as though they had crossed the midway point of their schedule by delivering their season’s low-water mark.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2022

The 2002 team under Dick LeBeau went 2-14 to set the low-water mark.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 23, 2019

Trump’s attorney, Walter Butler, contested the charges in nine separate appearances at the Coney Island Magistrate’s Court, citing case law suggesting that city land ownership ended at the low-water mark.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 18, 2019

Only the Dead’s staunchest apologists would argue that its quality hasn’t oscillated wildly over the years, with the limp, flabby middle of last season a particular low-water mark in shambly zombiedom.

From The Guardian • Oct. 23, 2017

Here was erected a causeway to low-water mark; a flight of steps led to the interior of the inclosure.

From English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century. How they Illustrated and Interpreted their Times. by Everitt, Graham