breakwater

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a barrier built offshore or at a harbor entrance to reduce the force of waves and protect the water or coast behind it

   Fishing boats sheltered behind the breakwater during the storm.

2. 2
   noun

   anything that checks, absorbs, or diverts a powerful flow or force

   The ridge served as a natural breakwater against the winter swells.

A compound of break + water, recorded from the eighteenth century. It names a structure that breaks the energy of waves before they reach a harbor or exposed shore; the same protective image supports broader figurative uses.

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