underwater
adjective
, -ˈwä-\
Definition of underwater
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Examples of underwater in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Their houses were underwater and most of them had barely made it out with the clothes on their backs. — Patrick Oppmann, Jaide Timm-garcia And Jose Armijo, CNN, "'Grand Bahama is dead': A firsthand look at Dorian's destruction," 9 Sep. 2019 There’s also debris on the surface, underwater and on the ocean floor. — Los Angeles Times, "After Conception burned, police divers rushed to help. Hazards and stress awaited," 8 Sep. 2019 From 2011 to 2015, scientists boated out over different parts of the Juan de Fuca plate, dropped ocean-bottom seismometers underwater and let these sensors collect seismic data from earthquakes all over the world for a year. — Laura Geggel, Scientific American, "We Could Be Witnessing the Death of a Tectonic Plate," 8 Aug. 2019 LiDAR can reveal structures and objects underwater and map sites; sonar, magnetometors, and other remote sensing devices can help, too. — Erin Blakemore, National Geographic, "How underwater archaeology reveals hidden wonders," 2 Aug. 2019 Medici, an avid surfer from Revere, was boogie boarding 300 yards offshore when he was dragged underwater and badly bitten by a shark. — Kellen Browning, BostonGlobe.com, "As Cape Cod readies for tourist season, last year’s deadly shark attack is on everyone’s mind," 28 June 2019 More: Ohio's farmland is underwater and unrecognizable. — Sarah Brookbank, Cincinnati.com, "Cincinnati weather: We finally have a forecast with back-to-back sunny days," 25 June 2019 But Meghan and Harry aren’t her only royal connection — sailing with Thunberg on the 60-foot Malizia II racing yacht (equipped with solar panels and underwater turbines) was Grace Kelly’s grandson, Pierre Casiraghi. — Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE.com, "Meghan Markle's Environmentalist Champion Greta Thunberg, 16, Sails into NYC — with Another Royal!," 29 Aug. 2019 The images were captured during what is described as the largest and most complex underwater archaeology project in the country’s history. — Fox News, "Incredible images reveal 'frozen-in-time' shipwreck HMS Terror," 29 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'underwater.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for underwater
underwater
adjectiveFinancial Definition of underwater
What It Is
In the real estate world, underwater means that a property is worth less than what is owed on it.
How It Works
For example, let's say John Doe buys a house for $500,000. He makes a down payment on the house and borrows $400,000 to pay for the rest. Two years later, John loses his job and has to sell the house and move. However, the housing market has slipped in his town, and the house is only worth $300,000 right now. John owes $395,000 on the loan. He is underwater.
Even if he sells the house for $300,000, he would pay off only $300,000 of the loan and would still owe $95,000. Accordingly, if John were to sell the house for $300,000, he would need the bank to agree to write off the remaining $95,000. Thus, if John finds a buyer at $300,000, his lender would need to approve the sale and could even halt the sale if it believes that the house can be sold for more than $300,000. Every dollar below $395,000 is money lost to the lender.
Why It Matters
If a homeowner has to move right away, underwater mortgages can lead to short sales, which can be long and arduous. This is primarily because extra lenders are involved, and the bureaucracy of approving and processing a sale can scare off potential buyers who want to close on a house purchase quickly. However, buyers (that is, people who might want to buy John Doe's $300,000 house, in our example) can often get good deals on homes that have underwater mortgages, because lenders do not want to be in the business of owning real estate, want to be repaid as quickly as possible, and in our case, would rather have $300,000 than foreclose on the house.
Source: Investing Answers
underwater
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of underwater
See the full definition for underwater in the English Language Learners Dictionary
underwater
adjective
, -ˈwä-\
Kids Definition of underwater
(Entry 1 of 2)
underwater
adverb
, -ˈwä-\
Kids Definition of underwater (Entry 2 of 2)
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underwater
adjectiveLegal Definition of underwater
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