breakwater

break·wa·ter | \ ˈbrāk-ˌwȯ-tər

How to pronounce breakwater (audio)

, -ˌwä- \

Definition of breakwater

: an offshore structure (such as a wall) protecting a harbor or beach from the force of waves

Examples of breakwater in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The study also looked at adding floating breakwaters beyond the piers to muffle high tides, and the need to relocate building utilities so that they aren’t exposed to flooding. — John King, SFChronicle.com, "Buffing up San Francisco’s historic piers to survive sea level rise," 6 Feb. 2020 About 10 feet of the breakwater walkway was destroyed and washed into the water, said Dennis Cherny, Port Washington's harbormaster. — Hannah Kirby, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Weekend storm brings 'catastrophic' damage to areas along Lake Michigan shoreline," 13 Jan. 2020 The $611 million proposal would roughly double the length of the port’s west causeway, seen here with a vessel moored, and add a nearly 1,400-foot breakwater with three large vessels docks in deep water. — Elwood Brehmer, Anchorage Daily News, "Army Corps of Engineers expands plan for Nome port," 8 Jan. 2020 According to Fast Company, the plan also includes building breakwaters, barriers meant to protect the coast from waves, that extend into the river. — Isabel Garcia, House Beautiful, "Williamsburg Could Be Getting Two Massive Waterfront Apartment Towers," 12 Dec. 2019 Large quantities of sand were washed out into the lake past the breakwaters and permanently lost to the park district. — Karen Berkowitz, chicagotribune.com, "Park District of Highland Park adding tons of coarse sand to stave off erosion at Rosewood Beach," 22 Oct. 2019 In August, a berth inside the breakwater was claimed by the Pangaea, a slender 105-foot sailboat with a hull fortified to push through ice. — Hal Bernton, Anchorage Daily News, "As Alaska permafrost melts, roads sink, bridges tilt and greenhouse gases escape," 17 Dec. 2019 Experts say that some coastal sites could potentially be protected by sea walls, breakwaters and dune restoration. — Tara Law, Time, "It’s Not Just Flooding in Venice. Here’s How Climate Change Threatens World Heritage Sites Everywhere," 22 Nov. 2019 Located on the picturesque campus of Southern Maine Community College, formerly Fort Preble, the lighthouse sits at the end of a dramatic 900-foot granite breakwater. — Washington Post, "Sunrise, sunset: In Maine, a place where the sun is the star," 18 Oct. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'breakwater.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near breakwater

break/violate the law

break (with) precedent

Statistics for breakwater

Last Updated

14 Apr 2020

Cite this Entry

“Breakwater.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breakwater. Accessed 1 Jun. 2020.

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