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• blue-water
  blue-water

  adjective

  designed to operate on and range over the open sea; oceangoing.
• blue water
  blue water

  noun

  water in the form of lakes and rivers, or collected in underground reservoirs. Compare white water, green water.

blue-water

¹ American  

[bloo-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈbluˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /

adjective

1. designed to operate on and range over the open sea; oceangoing.

   a bluewater navy that can be dispatched throughout the world, far from its home base.

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blue water ² American  

[bloo waw-ter] / ˈblu ˌwɔ tər /

noun

• blue waters
  plural

1. water in the form of lakes and rivers, or collected in underground reservoirs. Compare white water, green water.

2. the open sea.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• blue-water
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• blue waters
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of blue-water

First recorded in 1900–05

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

blue-water blue water

Today, China is building a blue-water navy capable of power projection, operating three aircraft carriers, four amphibious assault ships, eight Renhai cruisers, 25 Luyang III destroyers, and 40 Jiangkai II frigates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026

Chinese military capabilities now include advanced missiles and other long-range weapons, electronic warfare arms, innovative weapons technology and a blue-water navy armed with large warships and smaller vessels capable of “coercion around Taiwan,” he said.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 18, 2023

Navy warfare strategists working on arming the surface fleet for massive blue-water combat.

From Fox News ● Jul. 17, 2020

As Europe’s empires continued to spread globally in the 1890s, Mahan’s prolific prose persuaded Washington that national defense required the creation of a genuine blue-water navy and bases in both the Caribbean and the Pacific.

From Salon ● Dec. 8, 2018

"If they are longshoremen—and yet I don't know," exclaimed the captain with a short laugh, "a boatman will easily handle a craft of that sort when a blue-water sailor would be all abroad."

From A Marriage at Sea by W. Clark (William Clark) Russell

Along Italy's eastern coast, bands of lighter blue water stand out against the deeper blue offshore.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

And how does Brin think Lake Tahoe retains its clear, deep blue water?

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026

These passages are interspersed with photos of bright sun, yellow sand, blue water and vibrantly colored foods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

“It’s generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations,” Dickson said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2025

All along the river large sycamore logs lay partly submerged in the clear blue water.

From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls

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