red tide

1. 1.

   seawater that is discolored by large numbers of certain dinoflagellates that produce saxitoxin

   Broaderseawater

Questions about red tide

What does red tide mean?

red tide means "seawater that is discolored by large numbers of certain dinoflagellates that produce saxitoxin".

Is red tide a common word?

red tide is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.