freshwater
Americanadjective
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of or living in water that is fresh or not salt.
freshwater fish.
-
accustomed to fresh water only, and not to the sea.
a freshwater sailor.
-
small, provincial, or little known.
a freshwater college.
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Obsolete. untrained or of little experience.
noun
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of, relating to, or living in fresh water
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(esp of a sailor who has not sailed on the sea) unskilled or inexperienced
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small and little known
a freshwater school
Etymology
Origin of freshwater
Explanation
The adjective freshwater describes an aquatic environment with very little salt, like a stream or a pond, or an animal that lives there. Water bodies that started as precipitation are freshwater, whether the water came from rain, snowfall, or melting glaciers. A freshwater lake, unlike a salt lake, sea, or ocean, has a low concentration of salts and other minerals. Freshwater bodies make up less than three percent of the earth's water. Freshwater fish and amphibians are the ones that are adapted to live in ponds, lakes, and streams, in contrast to those that thrive in salty water.
Vocabulary lists containing freshwater
South America - Middle School
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Russia - Introductory
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South America - Introductory
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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.
Many shippers book slots to transit the canal months in advance, using a reservation mechanism that accounts for 90% of total traffic through the complex freshwater system of locks and artificial lakes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
"Crocodilians, the largest predators in most tropical, subtropical freshwater and brackish environments, are a unique case when it comes to homing behavior," said behavioral ecologist and Adjunct Associate Professor Ru Somaweera, from Murdoch University.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
She said European eels had catadromous breeding, which meant they hatched in the Sargasso sea in the Atlantic Ocean, grew up in freshwater environments and then spawned back in the sea.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
The freshwater beaches of Lake Michigan are less than an hour away.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Even more varied and underappreciated than the salamander is the freshwater mussel.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
