water ballast

noun

A weight in the form of seawater that can be let or pumped into a ballast tank within a vessel when required.

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Meanings

nounwater ballast (uncountable)
  1. uncountablenauticalA weight in the form of seawater that can be let or pumped into a ballast tank within a vessel when required.
    1 more example

    Thanks to the previous experience of the chief performers, to careful preparation and rehearsal, and to perfect weather conditions, they watched in breath-bated silence the spectacle of the huge bulk moving without a hitch into position over the temporary pier caps on which it settled as water ballast was admitted to the pontoons.

    1959 May 29, L. T. C. Rolt, “Centenary of the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash”, in Railway Magazine, page 310
Cite this entry
APA

water ballast. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/water%20ballast

MLA

“water ballast.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/water%20ballast. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “water ballast,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/water%20ballast.

Source: water ballast on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.