slack water

American  

noun

1. a period when a body of water is between tides.

2. water that is free of currents.

---

slack water British  

noun

1. the period of still water around the turn of the tide, esp at low tide

---

Etymology

Origin of slack water

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slack water

The benefits of slack water reservoirs and electric power altered those currents.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2023

Prospectors’ eyes are trained to look for opportunity: Eddies, abrupt shifts in direction caused by downed trees, and slack water “drop-out zones,” where gold, 19 times heavier than water, will fall as flow slows.

From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2023

However, the time of slack water was before sunrise, so the crew accomplished this feat half asleep.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 26, 2017

To make all this more manageable, ships the size of the T Roosevelt have only been cleared to enter Kill Van Kull within an hour of slack water, when the tidal stream is most calm.

From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2017

On April 8 he ran another time trial in slack water.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown