groundwater

American

[ground-waw-ter, -woter] / ˈgraʊndˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒtər /

Also ground water

noun

the water beneath the surface of the ground, consisting largely of surface water that has seeped down: the source of water in springs and wells.

groundwater Scientific

/ ground′wô′tər /

Water that collects or flows beneath the Earth's surface, filling the porous spaces in soil, sediment, and rocks. Groundwater originates from rain and from melting snow and ice and is the source of water for aquifers, springs, and wells. The upper surface of groundwater is the water table.

groundwater Cultural

Water that seeps through the soil or rocks underground.

Discover More

Groundwater can be contaminated by chemical pollutants. (See water pollution.)

Groundwater is a source of drinking and spring water for many communities.

Etymology

Origin of groundwater

First recorded in 1885–90; ground ¹ ( def. ) + water ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The metropolitan area of 42 million is sinking, partly due to groundwater extraction.

From Barron's

Abnormal levels of groundwater and soil pollution were detected near a 3M site in Zwijndrecht, outside the port city of Antwerp, in 2021.

From Barron's

"The experiment included five plots that together reflected typical management conditions found in a drained agricultural field -- with different groundwater levels, different amounts of fertiliser, and different numbers of harvests per season," Zhao explains.

From Science Daily

This suggests that maintaining higher groundwater levels in Arctic farmland could serve as an effective climate strategy.

From Science Daily

But when researchers raised the groundwater to between 25 and 50 cm below the surface, emissions dropped sharply.

From Science Daily

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023