aquifer

American  

[ak-wuh-fer] / ˈæk wə fər /

noun

aquifers plural

1. any geological formation containing or conducting groundwater, especially one that supplies the water for wells, springs, etc.

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aquifer British  

/ ˈækwɪfə /

noun

1. a porous deposit of rock, such as a sandstone, containing water that can be used to supply wells

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aquifer Scientific  

/ ăk′wə-fər /

1. An underground layer of permeable rock, sediment (usually sand or gravel), or soil that yields water. The pore spaces in aquifers are filled with water and are interconnected, so that water flows through them. Sandstones, unconsolidated gravels, and porous limestones make the best aquifers. They can range from a few square kilometers to thousands of square kilometers in size.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• aquifers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of aquifer

First recorded in 1900–05; probably from French aquifère (adjective); see aqui-, -fer

Explanation

An aquifer is an underground water supply — one found in porous rock, sand, gravel, or the like. Your town might get its water from a lake, river, reservoir, aquifer, or some other source. Aquifer is from the Latin aqua ("water") and ferre ("to bear") — an aquifer literally bears water. Some aquifers are massive, such as the Ogallala Aquifer in the United States that stretches across parts of eight states from South Dakota to Texas. But not massive enough — we're draining them faster than the water can be replenished.

Example Sentences

The Ogallala Aquifer, which rests beneath the Great Plains and was once thought inexhaustible, now drops several feet per year in some areas, turning what was once America’s breadbasket into tomorrow’s dust bowl.

From Salon • Jul. 12, 2025

Sarah Houston, executive director of Protect Our Aquifer, said water infrastructure in the South is not built for heavy snow, large ice accumulations and days of subfreezing temperatures.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 24, 2024

Brozović and Husker colleague Taro Mieno had already constructed plenty of models, and run plenty of simulations, on how the High Plains Aquifer responds to drought and dry conditions.

From Science Daily • Jan. 15, 2024

At the end of the Dust Bowl drought, the rains returned, but farmers wanted more and began pumping from the Ogallala Aquifer, a Great-Lake-sized underground water source created over thousands of years.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2023

For decades, the Southwestern cotton crop has depended on water pumped from the Ogallala Aquifer, which stretches underneath eight western states from Wyoming to Texas.

From New York Times • Feb. 18, 2023

Related Words

• water level