sea level

American  

noun

1. the horizontal plane or level corresponding to the surface of the sea at mean level between high and low tide.

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sea level British  

noun

1. the level of the surface of the sea with respect to the land, taken to be the mean level between high and low tide, and used as a standard base for measuring heights and depths

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sea level Scientific  

1. The level of the ocean's surface. Sea level at a particular location changes regularly with the tides and irregularly due to conditions such as wind and currents. Other factors that contribute to such fluctuation include water temperature and salinity, air pressure, seasonal changes, the amount of stream runoff, and the amount of water that is stored as ice or snow.

2. ◆ The reference point used as a standard for determining terrestrial and atmospheric elevation or ocean depths is called the mean sea level and is calculated as the average of hourly tide levels measured by mechanical tide gauges over extended periods of time.

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Etymology

Origin of sea level

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

After a few runs, settle in for a hearty lunch of schnitzel and spinach dumplings cooked in brown butter sauce at Filzalm, a cozy mountain hut perched 4,265 feet above sea level.

From The Wall Street Journal

They were linked together the same way an invisible web connected pollution to wildfires, wildfires to melting ice caps, melting ice caps to rising sea levels, rising sea levels to storm surges.

From Literature

Some experts worry that these policies are not planning enough to account for rising sea levels due to climate change, or the once-in-a-century megaquake that Japan has been anticipating.

From BBC

In some places, as climate change causes sea levels to rise, coastal erosion worsens.

From BBC

Warmer oceans contribute to rising sea levels through thermal expansion, intensify and prolong heatwaves, and strengthen extreme weather by adding heat and moisture to the atmosphere.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• water level