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

Nolan and the cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, wielding heavy IMAX cameras, shot their picture across the Mediterranean and beyond, in caves, castles, beaches, black-sand wastes, and open water. — David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026

The calm waters of the Chesapeake Bay make Cape Charles’s beaches especially great for little ones and adventurers looking to paddle board or kayak the open water. — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 21 June 2026

Season 2 will switch to the open water, as a new thriller unfolds aboard a ship travelling across the Irish Sea. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 19 June 2026

Today, as temperatures quickly rise in the Arctic and sea ice declines, a significant portion of the Central Arctic Ocean – the ocean’s international waters – is open water for part of each year. — David Balton, The Conversation, 15 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1625, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for open water

• imprimatur
• underwater
• auteur
• blotter
• cotter
• daughter
• hotter
• mater
• otter
• plotter
• rotter
• slaughter