lough
Americannoun
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a lake.
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a partially landlocked or protected bay; a narrow arm of the sea.
noun
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an Irish word for lake 1
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a long narrow bay or arm of the sea in Ireland
Etymology
Origin of lough
1505–15; Anglo-Irish spelling of Irish loch lake; compare Middle English low, lough ( e ), logh ( e ), Old English (Northumbrian) lūh < British Celtic *lux- (> Welsh llwch (obsolete) lake, Old Breton luh, Breton louc’h ), apparently < early Irish; loch
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.
But incidents of pollution happen right across Northern Ireland's waterways, not just those which eventually lead to the lough.
From BBC • Sep. 24, 2025
"If we want to save the lough, we'll not be saved from up on high. We'll have to do it ourselves and we'll not do it by bickering about whose fault it is."
From BBC • Sep. 9, 2025
Northern Ireland Water has admitted breaching the law hundreds of times each year by releasing untreated sewage into the lough.
From BBC • Dec. 3, 2024
It did leave the port just after 23:30, but remained in the lough for almost three more days before departing at about 16:30 on Thursday.
From BBC • Oct. 3, 2024
Hope in the fact that he could learn and survive and take care of himself. lough hope, he thought that night.
From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen
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.
