meltwater

American

[melt-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈmɛltˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /

noun

water from melted snow or ice.

meltwater British

/ ˈmɛltˌwɔːtə /

noun

melted snow or ice

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of meltwater

First recorded in 1930–35; melt ¹ + water

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:

meltwater

Scientists are examining possible warning signs, including evidence that the glacier accelerated in the weeks before the collapse, and a sudden increase in meltwater shortly beforehand.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

"So you are going to get more landslides, debris flows, glacial meltwater, lake outbursts, glacier collapses, because climate warming ultimately destabilises these high mountain environments."

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Extra rainfall and meltwater from ice make the ocean fresher.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

That is far greater than recent freshwater contributions from Antarctic meltwater, and the gap continues to grow.

From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026

The ribbon of frozen meltwater had ended three hundred feet up and was followed by a crumbly armor of frost feathers.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023