Phrase guide

green water

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A large quantity of water on a ship's deck as a result of massive waves during a large storm.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: nautical, transport

Examples

  • “When green water started coming over the flight deck, you knew you were in water. The smaller ships like the destroyers and stuff had a terrible time. When a carrier takes green water that’s a good sixty feet above the water if not more, and its rough.” James Spence WWII Veteran describing June 5, 1945 typhoon, The Last Days of World War II, episode 7, The History Channel

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Water, mostly from rain, that replenishes the water lost by evaporation or respiration from forests.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: biology, ecology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Water that has been colored green by the presence of algae or other organic matter.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, sometimes, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The waters, inshore, coastal, on the continental shelf, of non-abyssal basins, in the oceans.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, sometimes, usually

Topics: geography, natural-sciences, nautical, transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.