seafloor

noun

sea·​floor ˈsē-ˌflȯr How to pronounce seafloor (audio)
variants or less commonly sea floor
plural seafloors also sea floors
: the floor of a sea or ocean : seabed
The Earth's crust, in this view, is divided into several immense plates that make up the continents and seafloors, and that all float on a hot, plastic, subterranean "mantle."Walter Sullivan

Examples of seafloor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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This gear stores the rope and buoy with a trap on the seafloor until an acoustic release mechanism sends the buoy to the surface. Jason Mastrodonato, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2025 Current mining regulations focus primarily on the seafloor, overlooking broader ecosystem impacts. Alexus Cazares-Nuesser, The Conversation, 25 Mar. 2025 Of the approximately 300 species of octopus scattered across every ocean on Earth, the vast majority of them live on the seafloor, with only a few types sometimes venturing closer to the water's surface. Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2025 Another theory is that the mako may have ventured unusually close to the seafloor, where the octopus could have mistaken it for a rock or another surface to hide on. Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 1 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for seafloor

Word History

First Known Use

1853, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of seafloor was in 1853

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Cite this Entry

“Seafloor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seafloor. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

seafloor

noun
sea·​floor -ˌflō(ə)r How to pronounce seafloor (audio)
-ˌflȯ(ə)r
: seabed

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