tidewater

noun

tide·​wa·​ter ˈtīd-ˌwȯ-tər 

-ˌwä-

1

: water overflowing land at flood tide

also : water affected by the ebb and flow of the tide

2

: low-lying coastal land

Examples of tidewater in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The five-hour Valdez trip is the shortest of three kayaking day trips Anadyr offers—the others visit Columbia, the second-largest tidewater glacier on the continent, and Shoup—along with multiday kayak camping trips. —Shoshi Parks, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Jan. 2025

The 1,500-acre tidewater plantation was originally purchased in 1793 by Major Pierce Butler, a signer of the United States Constitution whose grandsons—Pierce Mease Butler and John Mease Butler—inherited the property and the people enslaved there. —Melissa L. Cooper, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025

At the Norfolk Naval Station, headquarters of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, the Department of Defense and U.S. Navy acknowledge the risks from chronic and increasing sea level risk and have made plans to manage and adapt to tidewater risks over the next ten years. —Kate Gordon, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2018

The interpretation, unveiled at a recent festival in the Chesapeake tidewater hamlet of Easton, is dividing the town and fueling debate over how America redefines and reimagines its ever-present past. —Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1772, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

tidewater

noun

tide·​wa·​ter -ˌwȯt-ər 

-ˌwät-

1

: water overflowing land at high tide

2

: low-lying coastal land

Geographical Definition

Tidewater

geographical name

Tide·​wa·​ter ˈtīd-ˌwȯ-tər 

-ˌwä-

low-lying region of eastern Virginia extending from Chesapeake Bay to the Piedmont; site of the first English settlements in America