dead water

noun

1. water eddying beside a moving hull, especially directly astern.
2. a part of a stream where there is a slack current.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dead water¹

First recorded in 1555–65

Example Sentences

Then we risk foundering on a dark lake of stagnant, dead water, and dragging our mind’s creations down with us, so that they are left to perish among dead rats and rotting flowers in a dark, warm whirlpool.

From The New Yorker

Yarborough morosely added: “The water used to be so clear you could see the seagrass move back and forth. Now you can’t see the bottom. The dead water sort of moves around the bay and you think ‘I’ve just gotta get out of here.’”

From The Guardian

In the long gray dusk they crossed a river and stopped and looked down from the concrete balustrade at the slow dead water passing underneath.

From Literature

Each time I took another sip it tasted more and mere like dead water.

From Literature

“But now you have dead water.”

From Seattle Times