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seiche

[seysh]
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noun
  1. an occasional and sudden oscillation of the water of a lake, bay, estuary, etc., producing fluctuations in the water level and caused by wind, earthquakes, changes in barometric pressure, etc.
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Origin of seiche

Borrowed into English from Franco-Provençal around 1830–40
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for seiche

Historical Examples

  • The Vilaine receives the Meu and the Seiche, which are both navigable.

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 3

    Various

  • Cenéle amus: salanaig buale ⁊ buicc brodnai ⁊ eóin erchoille ⁊ seiche corad.

  • Notwithstanding the strange, not to say grotesque, appearance of its beak, the Seiche is decidedly an interesting creature.

    The Sea

    Jules Michelet

  • A seiche is a standing oscillation of a lake, usually in the direction of the longest diameter, but occasionally transverse.

British Dictionary definitions for seiche

seiche

noun
  1. a periodic oscillation of the surface of an enclosed or semienclosed body of water (lake, inland sea, bay, etc) caused by such phenomena as atmospheric pressure changes, winds, tidal currents, and earthquakes
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Word Origin

C19: from Swiss French, first used to describe the rise and fall of water in Lake Geneva; of obscure origin
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
seiche in Science

seiche

[sāsh, sēch]
  1. An oscillating wave in an enclosed body of water. A seiche may have a period from a few minutes to a few hours and is usually a result of seismic or atmospheric disturbances.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.