FRESHWATER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does freshwater mean? 

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

1. water that is not salty

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• FRESHWATER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Water that is not salty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

fresh water; freshwater

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

H2O; water (binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "freshwater"):

rain; rainwater (drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation from clouds)

condensate (a product of condensation)

 Context examples 

So while freshwater wetlands are known to be significant methane sources, their low sulfate concentrations previously led most researchers to conclude that anaerobic oxidation of methane was not important in these regions.

(Methane-eating microorganisms help regulate emissions from wetlands, NSF)

This may have implications for an origin of life in freshwater hot springs on land, rather than the more widely discussed idea that life developed in the ocean and adapted to land later.

(First Life Ever on Land: 3.48 Billion Years Ago, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Researchers found that steaming freshwater fish for more than two minutes reduces the presence of cylindrospermopsin, a poisonous substance, by up to 26%.

(Steaming Fish More Healthy than Boiling, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The energy in places where salty ocean water and freshwater mingle could provide a massive source of renewable power.

(Researchers develop technology to harness energy from mixing of freshwater and seawater, National Science Foundation)

Small shallow lakes dominate the world’s freshwater area, and the sediments within them already produce at least one-quarter of all carbon-dioxide, and more than two-thirds of all methane that come from lakes.

(Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater ecosystems, University of Cambridge)

The fishing of the tambaqui – a large freshwater fish native to South America – that usually happens before its reproductive season in October, is increasingly affected by flooding.

(Amazon fish ‘face new threats’, SciDev.Net)

A NASA-led, international study finds Asia's high mountain glaciers are flowing more slowly in response to widespread ice loss, affecting freshwater availability downstream in India, Pakistan and China.

(NASA Finds Asian Glaciers Slowed by Ice Loss, NASA)

Small amounts of vaterite crystals have been found in some sea and freshwater crustaceans, bird eggs, the inner ears of salmon, meteorites and rocks.

(Rare mineral discovered in plants for first time, University of Cambridge)

Despite covering less than one percent of Earth's surface area, ancient lakes contain almost half the world's fresh surface water and a large share of its freshwater biodiversity.

(Ancient lakes: eyes into the past, and the future, National Science Foundation)

A. hydrophila is found in freshwater and marine environments and is pathogenic to fish, amphibians, and mammals.

(Aeromonas hydrophila, NCI Thesaurus)