submersible

Pluralsubmersibles

1. 1
   nounBritishcountable

   A small, nonmilitary, non-nuclear craft like a submarine but with more limited mobility, used for underwater exploration.

   The research team took turns diving in the submersible to study the old wreck.

   Unlike a full submarine, the little submersible can travel only a short distance under its own power.

   Note

   In British usage the word marks off small civilian craft from the navy's submarines. Even in Britain the line has moved, though: hindsight has also applied the word to older non-nuclear navy boats, so the same word can name a research craft or an old diesel boat, and only the context tells which.

2. 2
   adjective

   Capable of being put or going completely under water or another liquid.

   The farm uses a submersible pump to draw water from the well.

   The underwater lights in the fountain are fully submersible.

   Note

   The word is built on submerse, not submerge, which is why it is spelled with an s and ends in -ible rather than -able. As an adjective it usually describes equipment made to work under water, such as a submersible pump or light; the noun senses for underwater craft grew from it.

3. 3
   nounUScountable

   A very small submarine built for specific local missions, usually tethered to a submarine or ship that supplies life support and communications.

   The salvage team lowered a submersible on its tether to repair the damaged pipeline.

   Air and radio signals reached the submersible through the cable linking it to the mother ship.

   Note

   An American usage, with slang names of its own: midget submarine, or simply anchor. The word points to different craft on either side of the Atlantic, since British usage gives it to a small craft for exploration. Where the difference matters, a tethered submersible or a midget submarine makes the American meaning plain.

4. 4
   nounBritishcountable

   A non-nuclear submarine, so called in hindsight to distinguish it from a nuclear submarine, which is regarded as the true submarine.

   Compared with the nuclear boats that replaced it, the old diesel submersible had to surface regularly to recharge its batteries.

   The early U-boats were submersibles, quick on the surface but slow and short-ranged underwater.

   Similarsubmarine

   Note

   The reasoning is about staying down: a diesel boat had to surface regularly to recharge its batteries, and the nuclear boats that replaced it did not, so the nuclear ones took the name true submarine and the older ones were demoted. A rival naval usage swaps the labels, so check which convention a writer follows.

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