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

“But we have now counted 250 to 300 dead sea lion pups” on Año Nuevo Island.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2024

A Halloween toy was among hundreds of plastic items found in the guts of dead sea turtles in the Mediterranean, a new study reveals.

From Science Daily • Mar. 11, 2024

Last week, they estimated 1 billion dead sea animals.

From Scientific American • Jul. 15, 2021

Bones and shells sometimes pile up when currents sweep dead sea creatures toward a particular eddy, where they accumulate over years or centuries.

From New York Times • Jan. 4, 2016

He looked out onto the dead sea bottom.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury