fresh water
Americannoun
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water that does not contain a large amount of salt.
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inland water, as ponds, lakes, or streams, that is not salt.
Etymology
Origin of fresh water
before 900; Middle English; Old English
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.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—Some 15 miles off the southwest coast of Sri Lanka, around 20 empty Iranian oil tankers are stranded, drifting with their engines idled as food, fuel and fresh water run short.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The forested island was first spotted in the middle of Williston Reservoir, BC's largest fresh water lake, in early August by boaters who captured the scene in a video that has since gone viral.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Families of service members detailed severe shortages of fresh water and food, overflowing toilets, broken facilities and a complete breakdown in mental health support.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
The agency has imposed restrictions on irrigation, while limiting how much certain locks can open to reduce the loss of fresh water and to prevent too much salt water from entering the network.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
But by 2:53 that afternoon, less than an hour before the explosion, they had run out of fresh water to inject.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
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.
