subaquatic
Americanadjective
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living or growing partly on land, partly in water.
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under water.
adjective
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living or growing partly in water and partly on land
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of or relating to conditions, existence, or activities under water
Etymology
Origin of subaquatic
Explanation
A subaquatic creature lives or exists entirely under water. A squid cruising the ocean depths or a clam buried in the seabed both fit the bill. Subaquatic creatures like octopuses, jellyfish, and starfish spend their whole existence below the surface. The word often shows up in marine biology texts, but you might also see it describing things like subaquatic caves or plants. Subaquatic is derived from the Latin sub, "under," and aquatic, "relating to or operating in water."
Vocabulary lists containing subaquatic
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.
A group of tabletop vitrines in the show offers views of strange, sculpted, subaquatic splendor — luminous cast-glass mushrooms, sea anemones, bright ribbons of kelp.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2023
When subaquatic grasses are least threatened, we can allow for intentional discharge that removes sediment.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 20, 2021
Tanks – called land ships – surfed the mud; gas-masked soldiers peered out of trenches through subaquatic periscopes.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 3, 2018
The main elements are large, cheerfully colored fiberglass blobs resembling extraterrestrial or subaquatic life forms as imagined by the makers of “Ghostbusters.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 23, 2012
Everything we’ve known is cold and subaquatic, no longer ours.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
