tidewater

noun

tide·​wa·​ter ˈtīd-ˌwȯ-tər 

-ˌwä-

1

: water overflowing land at flood tide

also : water affected by the ebb and flow of the tide

2

: low-lying coastal land

Examples of tidewater in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Here are 12 of our favorites: Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska Glacier Bay National Park, in southeast Alaska, is a jaw-dropping wilderness where massive tidewater glaciers calve into icy waters and humpback whales surface with breathtaking grace. —USA Today, 11 June 2025

The Potomac, one of the good Eastern black-bass rivers, offers some 400 miles of fair-to-excellent fishing-mostly smallmouths upstream from Great Falls on the outskirts of Washington, D. C., and largemouths in the tidewater downstream. —Arthur Grahame, Outdoor Life, 4 June 2025

The repatriation of more than 300 northern tidewater gobies — led by the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains — marked a peaceful moment in a region still reeling from the aftermath of wildfires and now in turmoil due to federal immigration raids. —Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2025

Here are a few of our favorites from the West: Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska Glacier Bay National Park, in southeast Alaska, is a jaw-dropping wilderness where massive tidewater glaciers calve into icy waters and humpback whales surface with breathtaking grace. —USA Today, 11 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1772, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for tidewater

• annunciator
• imprimatur
• underwater
• backwater
• bathwater
• blackwater
• breakwater
• deepwater
• edgewater
• feedwater
• floodwater
• freshwater

Kids Definition

tidewater

noun

tide·​wa·​ter -ˌwȯt-ər 

-ˌwät-

1

: water overflowing land at high tide

2

: low-lying coastal land

Geographical Definition

Tidewater

geographical name

Tide·​wa·​ter ˈtīd-ˌwȯ-tər 

-ˌwä-

low-lying region of eastern Virginia extending from Chesapeake Bay to the Piedmont; site of the first English settlements in America