slack water
noun
: the period at the turn of the tide when there is little or no horizontal motion of tidal water
called also slack tide
Examples of slack water in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Traditional fly fishing for steelhead is more common in the spring, while long-distance spey casting can be effective during fall when fish congregate in hard-to-reach slack water or deep holes on the far end of a run.
—
Travis Hall, Field & Stream, 2 Nov. 2023
The juveniles had trouble reaching the net, getting lost in the reservoir’s slack waters without a strong current to pull them.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2023
Among golden aspens with bull elk bugling down the canyon, my Orvis Encounter rod and reel combo worked Adams dry flies past slack water to fish lying in wait, flawlessly.
—Rob McDonald, Field & Stream, 13 Sep. 2023
These nutrient-rich fish, a wintertime staple for the Yurok people, lost 400 miles of their historical spawning habitat to four dams that transformed the churning upper reaches of the Klamath River into slack water, threatening the lamprey and other native species.
—oregonlive, 17 June 2023
Instead these particles are piling up where the Green, San Juan, Escalante, aptly named Dirty Devil and smaller Colorado tributaries hit Lake Powell’s slack water.
—Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 Mar. 2022
The river in the slack water above the Thiensville dam drops off to between 8 and 11 feet in depth and is about 270 feet wide.
—Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 29 June 2021
These trees are remnants of ecosystems that flourished along these canyon bottoms before the dam gates closed and turned the wild Colorado River into a 186-mile-long stretch of slack water in the heart of Utah’s redrock desert.
—Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 June 2021
From Pickwick Lake, high water has made many areas unfishable, but some anglers are connecting with catfish by drifting cut shad or skipjack just off the channels in slack water areas.
—Frank Sargeant, al, 21 Feb. 2020
Travis Hall, Field & Stream, 2 Nov. 2023
The juveniles had trouble reaching the net, getting lost in the reservoir’s slack waters without a strong current to pull them.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2023
Among golden aspens with bull elk bugling down the canyon, my Orvis Encounter rod and reel combo worked Adams dry flies past slack water to fish lying in wait, flawlessly.
—Rob McDonald, Field & Stream, 13 Sep. 2023
These nutrient-rich fish, a wintertime staple for the Yurok people, lost 400 miles of their historical spawning habitat to four dams that transformed the churning upper reaches of the Klamath River into slack water, threatening the lamprey and other native species.
—oregonlive, 17 June 2023
Instead these particles are piling up where the Green, San Juan, Escalante, aptly named Dirty Devil and smaller Colorado tributaries hit Lake Powell’s slack water.
—Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 Mar. 2022
The river in the slack water above the Thiensville dam drops off to between 8 and 11 feet in depth and is about 270 feet wide.
—Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 29 June 2021
These trees are remnants of ecosystems that flourished along these canyon bottoms before the dam gates closed and turned the wild Colorado River into a 186-mile-long stretch of slack water in the heart of Utah’s redrock desert.
—Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 June 2021
From Pickwick Lake, high water has made many areas unfishable, but some anglers are connecting with catfish by drifting cut shad or skipjack just off the channels in slack water areas.
—Frank Sargeant, al, 21 Feb. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slack water.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near slack water
Cite this Entry
“Slack water.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slack%20water. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share