mud flat

American  

noun

1. a mud-covered, gently sloping tract of land, alternately covered and left bare by tidal waters.

2. the muddy, nearly level bed of a dry lake.

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mud flat British  

noun

1. a tract of low muddy land, esp near an estuary, that is covered at high tide and exposed at low tide

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mud flat Scientific  

/ mŭd /

1. Low-lying land consisting of silt or sand that is covered at high tide and exposed at low tide.

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Etymology

Origin of mud flat

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

The second car drove up onto a mud flat, and its two passengers eventually rescued.

From Reuters • Aug. 11, 2023

It’s so low that the riverbank is a mud flat, and we slip and slide our way to the water.

From Washington Post • Aug. 13, 2022

Some residents fear being left with a stinking mud flat once the dam is gone, but in fact, dormant seeds quickly become trees, shrubs and grasses.

From New York Times • Jan. 20, 2020

Sandpipers fluttered over a mud flat; a kingfisher cut across the river.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 29, 2019

The tide was coming in and the mud flat had shrunk to the width of a path.

From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman