1
a
: a bay or recess in the shore of a sea, lake, or river
also
: creek
b
: a narrow water passage between peninsulas or through a barrier island leading to a bay or lagoon
2
: a way of entering
especially
: an opening for intake
Examples of inlet in a Sentence
The coast is dotted with tiny inlets.
went fishing in the quiet inlets of the coast
Recent Examples on the Web
As the boat of partiers zooms away into the choppy waters of the Boca Raton inlet, the video pans out to the spread of debris left floating in their wake.
—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2025
Their bodies were found in the Miller Flats area on the eastern side of the lake — a sprawling reservoir with long fingers and jagged inlets about an hour north of Birmingham.
—Hank Sanders, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2025
Rescue operations are underway Friday after a small plane with 10 people went missing over Alaska’s Norton Sound shoreline — an inlet of the Bering Sea.
—Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 7 Feb. 2025
Palm Beach County In Palm Beach County, the most vulnerable spots by the year 2050 would include communities just south of Jupiter inlet, including the Jupiter Ridge Natural Area, and communities east and south of the Jonathan’s Landing Golf Club.
—Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inlet
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2025
Their bodies were found in the Miller Flats area on the eastern side of the lake — a sprawling reservoir with long fingers and jagged inlets about an hour north of Birmingham.
—Hank Sanders, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2025
Rescue operations are underway Friday after a small plane with 10 people went missing over Alaska’s Norton Sound shoreline — an inlet of the Bering Sea.
—Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 7 Feb. 2025
Palm Beach County In Palm Beach County, the most vulnerable spots by the year 2050 would include communities just south of Jupiter inlet, including the Jupiter Ridge Natural Area, and communities east and south of the Jonathan’s Landing Golf Club.
—Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inlet
Cite this Entry
“Inlet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inlet. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
inlet
noun
in·let
ˈin-ˌlet 
-lət
1
: a small or narrow bay
2
: an opening for intake especially of fluids
Medical Definition
inlet
noun
in·let
ˈin-ˌlet, -lət
: the upper opening of a bodily cavity
especially
: that of the cavity of the true pelvis bounded by the pelvic brim
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share