Dead Sea

American  

noun

1. a salt lake between Israel and Jordan: the lowest lake in the world, more than 1,400 feet (430 meters) below sea level. Water from the lake, whose extreme salinity and high mineral content make it inhospitable to plant or animal life, has been used for health purposes since ancient times.

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Dead Sea British  

noun

1. a lake between Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank, now 420 m (1378 ft) below sea level; originally 390 m (1285 ft): the lowest lake in the world, with no outlet and very high salinity; outline, esp at the southern end, reduced considerably in recent years. Area: originally about 950 sq km (365 sq miles); by 2003 about 625 sq km (240 sq miles)

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Dead Sea Cultural  

1. Salt lake on the border between Israel and Jordan.

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Its shore, at approximately thirteen hundred feet below sea level, is the lowest point of dry land on Earth.

Etymology

Origin of Dead Sea

First recorded in 1300–50

Example Sentences

My brother had his bar mitzvah at the mountaintop fortress of Masada overlooking the Dead Sea.

From Salon

“Salty like the ocean, but not the Dead Sea” wasn’t abstract advice; it was an invitation to taste and adjust, to smell the mineral tang in the water and feel it on your fingers.

From Salon

We pass through the sand-coloured, rocky land that descends in the direction of the Dead Sea, towards Israel and ultimately Gaza.

From BBC

After the attacks, many residents were moved into a hotel by the Dead Sea - the David Hotel - some 90 minutes' drive away.

From BBC

Related species have been found in the depths of the Baltic seas, the soil of Antarctica, and the Dead Sea, which is why humans rarely come into contact with them, he says.

From Science Magazine