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P______
Definitions
a stretch of open water surrounded by ice (especially in Arctic seas)
Word origin
Borrowed from Russian полынья́ (polynʹjá, “polynya”) in the 1850s, from Middle Russian полыньѧ (polynʹja) (att. in 1639), from полыи (polyi, “open from above, uncovered; hollow”), whence also Russian полый (polyj, “hollow”), from Old East Slavic полъ (polŭ, “uncovered”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”). The rare plural form polynyi is borrowed from Russian полыньи́ (polynʹí).
Used in a sentence
“We immediately ascended a hill, and saw that the supposed land was nothing but hummocks of ice, piled up beyond a large Polynia, or space of open water, which extended from east to west, as far as the eye could reach.”
“Dr. [Ian] Stirling pointed out that colonies of nesting sea-birds were an indicator of permanent polynias and that the productivity studies in such polynias might prove interesting.”
“Researchers now plan to compare their routes with satellite images and see whether the owls stayed around the polynas, where snowy owls have been seen, picking off eiders swimming in the open water.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer0 curated clues
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