water column
noun
plural water columns
1
: a vertical expanse of water stretching between the surface and the floor of a body of water
Shallow feeders, sea lions work the top 600 feet of the water column for hake, rock-fish, herring, sardines … and squid, but opportunistically capturing anything that happens by.—
Downs Matthews
Downs MatthewsOnly a few animals of the water column above would have died and settled into the sediments below during the short time when the mudslide was coalescing into a layer of sediment in the stagnant basin.—Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould2
: a vertical pipe with valves and spout for delivering water to a locomotive tender
Examples of water column in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Meanwhile, the water column and the surrounding rock pressurizes the reactor to 160 ATM (2,352 psi) without the need for special equipment.
—New Atlas, 21 Sep. 2025
The water column contained specific layers, with an oxygenated surface above a super-salty, oxygen-free bottom.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2025
Tsunami waves involve movement of the entire water column from surface to sea floor.
—Hannah Parry
john Feng, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
Smooth hammerheads and blacktip sharks spent comparatively more time near the surface, whereas white sharks, spinner sharks, and dusky sharks were active throughout much of the water column.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for water column
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New Atlas, 21 Sep. 2025
The water column contained specific layers, with an oxygenated surface above a super-salty, oxygen-free bottom.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2025
Tsunami waves involve movement of the entire water column from surface to sea floor.
—Hannah Parry
john Feng, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
Smooth hammerheads and blacktip sharks spent comparatively more time near the surface, whereas white sharks, spinner sharks, and dusky sharks were active throughout much of the water column.
—Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for water column
Cite this Entry
“Water column.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/water%20column. Accessed 26 Sep. 2025.
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