sub-watern.adj.

1810 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Hampshire i. 23 Intervening between these latter and the top-mould, is often found a thin subsoil of gravel, but which may be rendered useful..for conducting the sub-waters into drains properly constructed to receive it.

1845 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 4 105 Thus the sub-water was allowed to circulate, and to rise, without obstruction, to a corresponding height with the tide.

1914 Condor 16 121 The Burrowing Owl, badger, and kangaroo rat were forced to find high ground when the sub-water came up.

1997 Idaho Falls Post Reg. (Nexis) 27 June a3 Other than the greenbelt, the only other extensive damage in the county is in the Swan Valley area. ‘Most of that damage is from subwater and doesn't qualify under flood,’ Shurtleff said.

1865 Sci. Amer. 30 Sept. 213/1 So strong is the current of the river these sub-water men can scarcely stand against the force of the current, though borne down by armor and weights to the amount of 275 pounds.

1893 Times 24 June 7/6 The [latest] ships are practically the same with regard to the sub-water structure.

1914 A. C. McLaughlin & A. B. Hart Cycl. Amer. Govt. III. 138/2 In underground and subwater transportation it [sc. electricity] reigns supreme, as well as on elevated railroads.

1984 Ocean Managem. 9 76 Geologically, the continental shelf is defined as the area between the shore-line and the point in the sub-water extension of the land mass where the inclination becomes perceptibly greater.

1993 Maclean's (Nexis) 15 Nov. 26 Among the business sectors he has cited as potential recipients of Ottawa's largesse are..cold-water engineering and subwater vehicle development.