sea level

noun

1. the horizontal plane or level corresponding to the surface of the sea at mean level between high and low tide.

sea level

noun

1. the level of the surface of the sea with respect to the land, taken to be the mean level between high and low tide, and used as a standard base for measuring heights and depths

sea level

1. The level of the ocean's surface. Sea level at a particular location changes regularly with the tides and irregularly due to conditions such as wind and currents. Other factors that contribute to such fluctuation include water temperature and salinity, air pressure, seasonal changes, the amount of stream runoff, and the amount of water that is stored as ice or snow.
2. ◆ The reference point used as a standard for determining terrestrial and atmospheric elevation or ocean depths is called the mean sea level and is calculated as the average of hourly tide levels measured by mechanical tide gauges over extended periods of time.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sea level¹

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

The sea level rises, falls, rises, falls, just like civilizations.

From The Daily Beast

By the late 1990s the sea level dropped by 16 meters, leaving fishing boats and ships resting on the sandy and salty bottom.

From The Daily Beast

Catastrophic sea level rise is depicted in the comics in a terrifying, bleak future.

From The Daily Beast

Meanwhile, sea level rise will emerge as a huge, inexorable and massively expensive problem.

From The Daily Beast

She had inherited enough wealth that she could live in luxury at sea level; instead, she wanted summits.

From The Daily Beast

Snowdon, the highest in the Kingdom, rises not so much as four thousand feet above the sea level.

From Project Gutenberg

It is built at a height of 754 ft. above the sea-level, in a fertile valley, and on the right bank of the Carami river.

From Project Gutenberg

As regards orographical features, much of the country is high plateau, with an average altitude of 3500 ft. above sea-level.

From Project Gutenberg

The new outlet was about a half mile wide, stretching from sea level and possibly below, to about a quarter mile up the slope.

From Project Gutenberg

It was barely a hundred yards in length, ten yards wide, and only eight feet above sea-level at high water!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• water level