fresh-water

Adjective

freshwater (not comparable)

1. Living in fresh water.
   • The trout is a freshwater fish.
2. Consisting of fresh water.
   • Lake Baikal is the world's largest freshwater lake in terms of volume.
3. Unskilled as a seaman.
   • “Mate,” said the captain in a low voice, “you talk like a fresh-water sailor. I can only attribute this shyness to some strange delusion, for surely,”—his voice assumed a slightly sneering tone as he said this—“surely I am not to suppose that you have become soft-hearted! […]1858, R M Ballantyne, The Coral Island
4. (US) Neoclassical, in reference to the macroeconomics and economic departments near the Great Lakes.
   • Meanwhile, the freshwater side of the dispute rapidly reverted to arguments from the nineteenth century, which had been debunked by Keynes and Irving Fisher.2012, John Quiggin, Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us, Princeton University Press (expanded paperback ed., 1st ed. from 2010), →ISBN, page 86.

   Synonyms:

   sweetwater

See all 14 meanings of freshwater