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sem·i·sub·mers·i·ble

(sĕm′ē-səb-mûrsə-bəl, sĕm′ī-)

1. Any of various self-propelled water vessels designed so that most, but not all, of the structure is submerged, including vessels with decks close to the waterline for transporting large structures such as oil rigs and disabled ships, and vessels with minimal structure above the waterline for avoiding detection.

2. A seagoing, self-propelled barge that has partially submerged vertical legs attached to underwater hulls or pontoons and serves as living quarters and a base of operations in offshore drilling. In this sense also called semisubmersible rig.

sem′i·sub·mersi·ble adj.

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semisubmersible

offshore drilling rig

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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