waterborne
Americanadjective
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floating or moving on water; supported by water.
The ship was waterborne ten months after the keel was laid.
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transported by ship or boat.
waterborne commerce.
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communicated by water, especially drinking water.
waterborne diseases.
adjective
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floating or travelling on water
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(of a disease, etc) transported or transmitted by water
Etymology
Origin of waterborne
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.
"Overall, our findings provide novel insights into the interplay between nanoplastics and bacterium-phage dynamics, highlighting increased microbial risks associated with waterborne nanoplastics," Liao said.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026
Under the 1920 Jones Act, waterborne cargo between two U.S. points must travel on ships that are built, crewed, and owned by Americans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
The annual monsoon season, typically between June and September, often brings heavy rains, triggering landslides, flash floods and waterborne diseases.
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025
That changed to VCL in 2022, with "services auxiliary to waterborne transport" and "rental of water transport equipment" added.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2025
There were loads of waterborne diseases in Congo, and a thousand different paths that all led to the same destination: diarrhea.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
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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.