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Glite Dictionary
🏚️ An undeveloped place 🌊 A still area
backwater

backwater

3 6.9
A calm part of a river or sea where water does not flow much
  • noun
  • /ˈbækˌwɔːtər/
translation icon : remanso
  • The heron waited patiently in the backwater for fish to swim by.
  • backwaters of a river

Examples

  • Refuge biologists have begun restoring 1,500 acres in and around Topock Marsh, a river backwater.

    Academic text (2001)

  • In these backwaters, the women and girls will spend most of the day fishing.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The 2,600-foot-long concrete structure caused enough backwater to flood over Little Goose Island, therefore giving the dam its name.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Natural rivers come with a wide range of habitats, including the main channel, backwater lakes, wetlands, flooded forests, and prairies.

    Academic text (1993)

  • One highway looped through this backwater—north from Schweinfurt and back down toward Bamberg.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The quiet backwater by the lake is perfect for fishing during the summer months.

  • During the storm, the river spilled into a backwater, creating calm pools of water.

Antonyms

current
166 3.2

A steady flow of water, air, or ideas

mainstream
75 3.4

The ideas and activities most people accept as normal

How Stagnant

stagnation
1 6.5
oxbow lake
  • Specialized
7.9
backwater
3 6.9
slack water
  • Specialized
1 7.9
pool
282 1.0

Surface Forms

backwater singular
backwaters plural

Morphology

backwater = back + water (transparent) = back + water

A literal compound of 'back' + 'water' referring to water set back from the main current; meaning is directly deducible from the parts.

Etymology

Backwater is made of the simple parts back and water, so it first meant water that stays 'behind' or 'moves back' from the main flow of a river. So a backwater is a quiet part of a river or pool where the current does not move much.