desalination
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Explanation
When salt and other minerals are removed from soil or water, it's called desalination. Desalination can make sea water safe to drink. The term desalination adds the prefix de-, "undo," to salination, "adding salt." The salty heart of the word is saline, "containing or made of salt." The complex process of water desalination involves using electricity or extreme heat, and it's very expensive. Still, many people around the world depend on desalination of ocean water for drinking and watering crops.
Vocabulary lists containing desalination
Chemistry - High School
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Chemistry - Middle School
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Marine Biology - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Earlier, Kuwaiti officials said Iranian drone strikes had injured a number of their soldiers, while a power plant and water desalination stations had also been damaged.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
An existing desalination plant with large white silos on Vulcano, one of the archipelago's eight islands, has made it autonomous for drinking water.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
By the way, it’s not as if the primary coastal regulatory agency in the state — the California Coastal Commission — has said nothing but “no” over the years to oil projects and desalination plants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Across volatile regions, some critical infrastructure, like desalination plants and data centers, will need to be fortified with layers of reinforced concrete, duplicated to provide backups or potentially relocated underground—at significant cost.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
“We’re doing fine. See those huts, the irrigation system, fishing lines, the rain-catching tarp, and desalination still? We built all of that.”
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
