groundwater

Also ground wa·ter

[ground-waw-ter, -woter]

noun

1. the water beneath the surface of the ground, consisting largely of surface water that has seeped down: the source of water in springs and wells.

groundwater

1. Water that collects or flows beneath the Earth's surface, filling the porous spaces in soil, sediment, and rocks. Groundwater originates from rain and from melting snow and ice and is the source of water for aquifers, springs, and wells. The upper surface of groundwater is the water table.

groundwater

1. Water that seeps through the soil or rocks underground.

Groundwater can be contaminated by chemical pollutants. (See water pollution.)

Groundwater is a source of drinking and spring water for many communities.

Word History and Origins

Origin of groundwater¹

First recorded in 1885–90; ground ¹ ( def. ) + water ( def. )

Example Sentences

Iran’s water crisis, compounded by decades of excessive groundwater pumping, has grown so severe that the president said Tehran no longer can remain the capital and the government will have to move it to another city.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Increased rainfall leads to more groundwater, which in this corner of the Palos Verdes peninsula acts as fuel for a complex of slow-moving landslides that have plagued the area since the late 1950s and, in the last two years, brought escalating movement after two particularly wet seasons.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In the last 10 years, they said, use of carcinogenic substances has dropped by 20% statewide, groundwater contaminants have been reduced by 77% and the use of reproductive toxins has dropped by 45%.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Scientifically, a thermal spring comes from geothermally heated groundwater rising from the Earth’s crust.

Read more on Literature

Other cities are also experiencing water scarcity that could have been avoided with leak reduction, the use of recycled water, groundwater management, desalination plants in coastal areas and other measures.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal