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water line

or wa·ter·line

noun
  1. Nautical. the part of the outside of a ship's hull that is just at the water level.
  2. Naval Architecture. any of a series of lines on the hull plans of a vessel representing the level to which the vessel is immersed or the bottom of the keel.Compare load line, Plimsoll line.
  3. the line in which water at its surface borders upon a floating body.
  4. water level(def 2).
  5. Also called watermark. a line indicating the former level or passage of water: A water line all around the cellar served as a reminder of the flood.
  6. a pipe, hose, tube, or other line for conveying water.
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Origin of water line

First recorded in 1615–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for water line

Historical Examples

  • It left the ship glistening from trucks to water-line, and with darkened sails.

    The Nigger Of The "Narcissus"

    Joseph Conrad

  • "It may be a low-lying cloud on the water-line of the horizon," Teddy added.

    Boy Scouts on Hudson Bay

    G. Harvey Ralphson

  • The lance tore through just above the water-line of Red Dick's steamer.

    Sonnie-Boy's People

    James B. Connolly

  • The water-line is strewn with cast-off salmon heads and entrails.

    Over the Rocky Mountains to Alaska

    Charles Warren Stoddard

  • Presently it was seen that she had been hit below the water-line.

    Lectures on the French Revolution

    John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

British Dictionary definitions for water line

water line

noun
  1. a line marked at the level around a vessel's hull to which the vessel will be immersed when afloat
  2. a line marking the level reached by a body of water
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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