blackwater
Americannoun
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any of several human or animal diseases characterized by the production of dark urine as a result of the rapid breakdown of red blood cells.
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Wastewater containing bodily or other biological wastes, as from toilets, dishwashers, or kitchen drains.
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Compare graywater
Etymology
Origin of blackwater
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.
In a recent study published in Nature Geoscience, the researchers turned their attention to two blackwater lakes stained dark by plant material: Africa's largest blackwater lake, Lac Mai Ndombe, and the smaller Lac Tumba.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 24, 2026
The disease can produce severe maternal anemia, iron deficiency, or it can spread to the kidneys and the lungs and cause a condition known as blackwater fever.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2024
The deaths are believed to have been caused by hypoxic blackwater, a naturally occurring phenomenon which causes extremely low oxygen levels.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2023
For Linda Ianniello and Susan Mears, this so-called blackwater diving has evolved from a pastime into a passion.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 8, 2022
He said that we were in at the death alike of malaria, of blackwater, and horse-sickness.
From Cinderella in the South Twenty-Five South African Tales by Cripps, Arthur Shearly
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.
