low-lying

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈləʊˈlaɪ.ɪŋ/

Adjective

low-lying

1. Lower than nearby areas.
   • 1953 May, “British Railways and the January Floods”, in Railway Magazine, page 301:

     Coastal defences were breached at many places from the Humber right round to the outskirts of London, and the inundation of low-lying lands caused damage on a scale unequalled within living memory.

   • 1959 August, K. Hoole, “The Middlesbrough — Newcastle route of the N.E.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 359:

     The route passes over low-lying land, the only item of note being the Cerebos salt works at Greatham, where one may catch a glimpse of the smart black diesel locomotive emblazoned with the firm's name writ large.

   • 1961 October, Voyageur, “The Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith Railway”, in Trains Illustrated, page 601:

     West of Keswick a short descent at 1 in 122 brings the train down to the low-lying and marshy ground between Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite Lake and to the crossing of the Derwent - the outfall from Derwentwater, [...].

   • 2020 April, Elizabeth Kolbert, “Why we won't avoid a climate catastrophe”, in National Geographic:

     Increasingly, low-lying coastal cities in the United States are experiencing what’s known as sunny-day flooding, when all it takes is a high tide to send water gushing into the streets.

   • 2024 September 27, Katie Hunt, “Scientists discover hidden ancient forest on treeless island”, in CNN‎:

     No trees have grown on the windswept Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean for tens of thousands of years — just shrubs and other low-lying vegetation. That’s why a recent arboreal discovery nearly 20 feet (6 meters) beneath the ground caught researchers’ attention.

2. (geography) Located or situated below or near a sea level.

   low-lying islands

3. (idiomatic) Of a person, lying low; concealed; hidden.

Alternative forms

• lowlying

Antonyms

• high-lying

Hypernyms

• lying

Translations

referring to places that are lower than nearby areas

Chinese: Mandarin: 低窪 / 低洼 (zh) (dīwā) Finnish: alava (fi) Greek: Ancient Greek: τᾰπεινός (tăpeinós) Maori: tāpotupotu Norwegian: Bokmål: lavtliggende Russian: низкорасполо́женный (ru) (nizkoraspolóžennyj), уни́женный (ru) (unížennyj)

Anagrams

• lying low