2. An inland body of water, esp. if large or if salt or
brackish; as, the Caspian Sea; the Sea of Aral; sometimes,
a small fresh-water lake; as, the Sea of Galilee.
3. The ocean; the whole body of the salt water which covers a
large part of the globe.
I marvel how the fishes live in the sea. --Shak.
Ambiguous between sea and land The river horse and
scaly crocodile. --Milton.
4. The swell of the ocean or other body of water in a high
wind; motion of the water's surface; also, a single wave;
a billow; as, there was a high sea after the storm; the
vessel shipped a sea.
5. (Jewish Antiq.) A great brazen laver in the temple at
Jerusalem; -- so called from its size.
He made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to
brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height
thereof. --2 Chron. iv.
2.
6. Fig.: Anything resembling the sea in vastness; as, a sea
of glory. --Shak.
All the space . . . was one sea of heads.
--Macaulay.
Note: Sea is often used in the composition of words of
obvious signification; as, sea-bathed, sea-beaten,
sea-bound, sea-bred, sea-circled, sealike, sea-nursed,
sea-tossed, sea-walled, sea-worn, and the like. It is
also used either adjectively or in combination with
substantives; as, sea bird, sea-bird, or seabird, sea
acorn, or sea-acorn.
{At sea}, upon the ocean; away from land; figuratively,
without landmarks for guidance; lost; at the mercy of
circumstances. ``To say the old man was at sea would be
too feeble an expression.'' --G. W. Cable
{At full sea} at the height of flood tide; hence, at the
height. ``But now God's mercy was at full sea.'' --Jer.
Taylor.
{Beyond seas}, or {Beyond the sea} or {the seas} (Law), out
of the state, territory, realm, or country. --Wharton.
{Half seas over}, half drunk. [Colloq.] --Spectator.
{Heavy sea}, a sea in which the waves run high.
{Long sea}, a sea characterized by the uniform and steady
motion of long and extensive waves.
{Short sea}, a sea in which the waves are short, broken, and
irregular, so as to produce a tumbling or jerking motion.
{To go to sea}, a adopt the calling or occupation of a
sailor.
Like the odor of brine from the ocean Comes the
thought of other years. --Longfellow.
2. One of the large bodies of water into which the great
ocean is regarded as divided, as the Atlantic, Pacific,
Indian, Arctic and Antarctic oceans.
3. An immense expanse; any vast space or quantity without
apparent limits; as, the boundless ocean of eternity; an
ocean of affairs. --Locke.