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

According to estimates by Reuters, at least 200 tankers and cargo ships remained at anchor in open waters off the coast of major Persian Gulf producers such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. —Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2026

Of course, blast and shock effects are less relevant when hitting a tank in the open desert or a ship on open water. —Richard Hall, Time, 3 Mar. 2026

Mute swans go where there's open water in the winter, Blakesley said. —Mikayla Price, CBS News, 3 Mar. 2026

The tankers were clustered in open waters off the coasts of major Gulf oil producers including Iraq and Saudi Arabia as well as LNG giant Qatar, according to Reuters estimates based on ship-tracking data from the MarineTraffic platform. —Yarden Segev, NBC news, 1 Mar. 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