inlet
Americannoun
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inlets
plural
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an indentation of a shoreline, usually long and narrow; small bay or arm.
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a narrow passage between islands.
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a place of admission; entrance.
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something put in or inserted.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a narrow inland opening of the coastline
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an entrance or opening
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the act of letting someone or something in
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something let in or inserted
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a passage, valve, or part through which a substance, esp a fluid, enters a device or machine
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( as modifier )
an inlet valve
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verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of inlet
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at in, let 1
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.
See Examples For:
New Smyrna Beach is a surf break near a fish-rich inlet that attracts sharks, leading to bites, said Naylor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
The last reported sighting of the St Malachy's College student was at Northwood Road close to the tunnel inlet, more than 600m upstream from where his body was discovered six days after he went missing.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Older power stations have simply placed a grill across the inlet pipes, filtering out fish, which are killed in the process.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
Scotland's First Minister John Swinney however expressed dismay that he had only heard about the tanker being in the Scottish inlet of Moray Firth via media reports.
From Barron's ● Jan. 14, 2026
Fred Narracott shut off the engine, they nosed their way gently into a little natural inlet between rocks.
From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
The whales feast all summer long, and only then embark on a 6,000-mile journey south to Mexico, where females calve and nurse their young in the warm and protected inlets along the Baja Peninsula.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2024
Many will focus on the innovative cooling inlets beside the cockpit.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2024
Suddenly, at the beach, there was life everywhere: fish frothing in the surf, fish flooding inlets.
From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2024
Officials urged residents to shut off their water heater inlets to conserve water.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 15, 2024
It was a bright, sunny day, and Seattle looked like a beautiful place, with inlets and bridges, wooded islands dotting the bay, and snowcapped mountains rising in the distance.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
She was about to reach and, as Ab supposed, pass one of the inletting paths entering almost at right angles from the left.
From The Story of Ab A Tale of the Time of the Cave Man by Stanley Waterloo
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.
