water column

noun

plural water columns
1
: a vertical expanse of water stretching between the surface and the floor of a body of water
Shallow feeders, sea lions work the top 600 feet of the water column for hake, rock-fish, herring, sardines … and squid, but opportunistically capturing anything that happens by.Downs Matthews
Only a few animals of the water column above would have died and settled into the sediments below during the short time when the mudslide was coalescing into a layer of sediment in the stagnant basin.Stephen Jay Gould
2
: a vertical pipe with valves and spout for delivering water to a locomotive tender

Examples of water column in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Below these icy blocks were layers of stratified water columns at least 39 feet deep. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 5 Dec. 2024 The nautilus draws fluid in and out of those chambers to sink or float in the water column. Amanda Kooser, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024 According to the team’s paper, published on December 3rd in Communications Earth & Environment, subsequent lab tests confirmed a total of 21 bacterial and eukaryotic phyla in Lake Enigma’s surface ice, stratified water column layers, and microbial mats. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 5 Dec. 2024 Their early developmental stages happen internally, resulting in fully-fledged larvae that reach the water column. IEEE Spectrum, 20 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for water column 

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of water column was in 1845

Dictionary Entries Near water column

Cite this Entry

“Water column.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/water%20column. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

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