tailwater

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noun

The water located immediately downstream from a hydraulic structure, such as a dam, bridge, or culvert.

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Meanings

nountailwater (countable and uncountable, plural tailwaters)

plural tailwaters

  1. countableuncountableThe water located immediately downstream from a hydraulic structure, such as a dam, bridge, or culvert.

    Like the more renowned Missouri and Henry’s Fork of Montana and Idaho, it is a tailwater fishery; that is, it owes its remarkable fecundity and its population of big wild trout to the cold-water outflow of reservoir impoundment.

    2008 May 27, Peter Kaminsky, “Rules for Reservoirs Pose Threat to Trout Population”, in New York Times

Origin

From tail + water.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

tailwater. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tailwater

MLA

“tailwater.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tailwater. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tailwater,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tailwater.

Source: tailwater on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.