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

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Etymology

Origin of aquifer

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

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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

See Examples For:

aquifer aquifers

Law enforcement is stretched, the multitude of wells is draining the aquifer and some residents’ low wages result in reliance on social services, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Chairman Timothy Williams of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe said the company’s plan “to pump and sell 25 times more groundwater each year than the aquifer can replenish would desecrate our traditional territories.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Residents feared the project would strain the electrical grid and drain their local aquifer.

From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026

In neighbouring Norway, the world's first commercial CO2 transport and storage service, dubbed Northern Lights, carried out its first CO2 injection in August into an aquifer 110 kilometers off Bergen on the western coast.

From Barron's ● Dec. 22, 2025

“Where does all the water come from? The Court is on a hill, so where’s the aquifer or aqueduct to bring the water up?”

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

Even without rising temperatures caused by the use of fossil fuels, heavy water use is putting major strain on the West’s rivers, streams and groundwater aquifers, Williams said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

However, as rainfall moves slowly through the water cycle, aquifers and groundwater stores have shown resilience, external throughout this current drought.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

Muller said Deep Fission’s reactor is too deep to affect aquifers, and that it will follow all nuclear and oil-and-gas regulations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

This year, drought has not developed as quickly because heavy rainfall recharged our aquifers, rivers and reservoirs during a very wet autumn and winter.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

And where the aquifers in question do not feed the original source stream system, a big subtraction is again involved.

From The Nation's River A report on the Potomac from the U.S. Department of the Interior by United States. Dept. of the Interior.

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