inlet n : an arm off of a larger body of water (often between rocky headlands) [syn: recess]

Inlet \In"let\, n.
1. A passage by which an inclosed place may be entered; a place of ingress; entrance. Doors and windows,inlets of men and of light. --Sir H. Wotton.
2. A bay or recess,as in the shore of a sea, lake, or large river; a narrow strip of water running into the land or between islands.
3. That which is let in or inland; an inserted material. Note: Inlet is also usewd adjectively,as in inlet pipe, inlet valve, etc.

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An inlet is a narrow body of water between islands or leading inland from a larger body of water, often leading to an enclosed body of water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon or marsh. In sea coasts an inlet usually refers to the actual connection between a bay and the ocean and is often called an "entrance" or a recession in the shore of a sea, lake or river. A certain kind of inlet created by glaciation is a fjord, typically but not always in mountainous coastlines and also in montane lakes.

Complexes of large inlets or fjords may be called sounds, e.g. Puget Sound, Howe Sound, Karmsund (sund is Norwegian for "sound"). Some fjord-type inlets are called canals, e.g. Portland Canal, Lynn Canal, Hood Canal, and some are channels, e.g. Dean Channel, Douglas Channel.

Bruun, Per; A.J. Mehta (1978). Stability of Tidal Inlets: Theory and Engineering. Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co.. pp. 510. ISBN 978-0-444-41728-2. 

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