BRINY (brinier, briniest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: brinier    , briniest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does briny mean? 

• BRINY (noun)
  The noun BRINY has 1 sense:

1. any very large body of (salt) water

  Familiarity information: BRINY used as a noun is very rare.

• BRINY (adjective)
  The adjective BRINY has 1 sense:

1. slightly salty (especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water)

  Familiarity information: BRINY used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRINY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any very large body of (salt) water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

briny; main

Hypernyms ("briny" is a kind of...):

body of water; water (the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean))

Meronyms (parts of "briny"):

high sea; international waters (the open seas of the world outside the territorial waters of any nation)

offing (the part of the sea that can be seen from the shore and is beyond the anchoring area)

territorial waters (the waters surrounding a nation and its territories over which that nation exercises sovereign jurisdiction)

Holonyms ("briny" is a part of...):

hydrosphere (the watery layer of the earth's surface; includes water vapor)

Derivation:

briny (slightly salty (especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water))

• BRINY (adjective)

Comparative: brinier   
Superlative: briniest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Slightly salty (especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water)

Synonyms:

brackish; briny

Context example:

the briny deep

Similar:

salty (containing or filled with salt)

Derivation:

brine (a strong solution of salt and water used for pickling)

brine (water containing salts)

brininess (the relative proportion of salt in a solution)

briny (any very large body of (salt) water)

 Context examples 

Curiosity scientists interpret rocks enriched in mineral salts discovered by the rover as evidence of shallow briny ponds that went through episodes of overflow and drying.

(NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds an Ancient Oasis on Mars, NASA)

Planetary scientists think these gullies or recurring slope lineae (RSLs) may appear seasonally as a form of briny water at or near the surface of the Red Planet under warmer conditions.

(NASA Weighs Use of Rover to Image Potential Mars Water Sites, NASA)

He wondered if there was soul in those steel-gray eyes that were often quite blue of color and that were strong with the briny airs of the sun- washed deep.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The eyes were large and brown and lustrous, the mouth sweet and sensitive, and the face itself a delicate oval, though sun and exposure to briny wind had burnt the face scarlet.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

When I lost sight of Father's dear old face, I felt a trifle blue, and might have shed a briny drop or two, if an Irish lady with four small children, all crying more or less, hadn't diverted my mind, for I amused myself by dropping gingerbread nuts over the seat every time they opened their mouths to roar.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

They're also mixed with sediment, suggesting they crystallized in a wet environment - possibly just beneath evaporating shallow ponds filled with briny water.

(NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds an Ancient Oasis on Mars, NASA)