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.

Before electric refrigeration, households relied on iceboxes, which required frequent deliveries of heavy blocks of ice, constant draining of meltwater and careful food planning to avoid spoilage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

In the Amundsen Sea, meltwater forms under floating ice shelves, which extend from glaciers on land into the ocean.

From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2026

Their goal was to collect glacial meltwater at its source.

From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 2026

The amount of iron carried by meltwater is several times lower than earlier estimates.

From Science Daily • Feb. 28, 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