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

What to read next Regent’s Canal, London, England Don’t fancy the open water? —Will Barker, TheWeek, 29 Apr. 2026

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works stated on April 28 that the warship had departed its Maine shipyard and entered open waters to undergo performance testing. —Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 29 Apr. 2026

The video also shows Louis surrounded by water, playing in the sand, running on the beach and jumping off a boat into open water. —Katie Kindelan, ABC News, 23 Apr. 2026

While kids are more likely to drown in bathtubs and home pools, adults are more likely to drown in open water or rivers. —Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 23 Apr. 2026

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