open water

noun

plural open waters

: water that is clear of obstacles to passage or view : water that is open (see open entry 1 sense 7a)

The word marsh conjures up a mental picture of a soggy, flat area filled with cattails and other herbaceous vegetation, with ducks sitting on patches of open water.

—Robert H. Mohlenbrock

often, specifically : water that is free of ice

When the river froze in the fall, a mile of open water had been left between two mighty jams.

—Jack London

Polynyas were areas of persistent open water, found throughout the circumpolar arctic, places kept ice-free by currents and wind patterns.

—David R. Masiel

Because the penguins feed in the ocean, they typically set up colonies near open water and must establish new nests when the coastline becomes covered in … ice.

—Science News

Examples of open water in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The National Drowning Prevention Alliance reports that most of those drownings happen in open water, like a creek. —Rhiannon Saegert, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Apr. 2025

However, watching them from a boat and swimming with them in open water are two completely different things. —Emese MacZko, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025

Scientists find these measurements by using satellites that track natural radiation in the microwave range — the radiation is different for open water and sea ice. —Julian Dossett, Space.com, 30 Mar. 2025

Experience something new by sleeping in a former church built in 1904 or a houseboat anchored amidst cypress trees emerging from the open water. —Kristy Christiansen, Southern Living, 6 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1625, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for open water

• annunciator
• imprimatur
• underwater
• backwater
• bathwater
• blackwater
• breakwater
• deepwater
• edgewater
• feedwater
• floodwater
• freshwater