dead water

plural dead waters · alternative deadwater

1. countableuncountablenauticalThe eddying water under a slow-moving ship's counter, or a similar area of stationary fluid or gas in advance of a concave angle, which can occur when there is strong vertical density stratification (due to salinity or temperature or both), and can cause ships to become hard to control.

   A "deadwater," that is a region occupied by stationary fluid or by gas at suitable pressure, ahead of a concave angle was shown to be possible by Villat.

   1967, David W. Taylor, Report - Naval Ship Research and Development Center, page 295

2. countableuncountableA region in a body of moving water (or similar body of fluid in motion) where the water (fluid) is relatively stationary, or stagnant.

   the Deadwaters of the Penobscot River

   4 more examples

   Some of our party went down the deadwater for a short distance in it and came back with three black ducks and one golden eye.

   1905, Acadiensis - Volume 5, page 135

   The deadwater region is viewed to be in backmix flow and to be interchanging fluid slowly with the active backmix flow region.

   1964, Advances in Chemical Engineering, page 160

   The river is divided into two regions: the main channel and a deadwater zone.

   1981, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NUREG/CR. - Volume 1322, page 4-17

   On other days we journeyed as far up the main branch as far as we could, sometimes following small brooks back to their deadwaters.

   2013, Doug Roy, The River Runs Deep, page 99