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spillway

American  
[spil-wey] / ˈspɪlˌweɪ /

noun

  1. a passageway through which surplus water escapes from a reservoir, lake, or the like.

spillway British  
/ ˈspɪlˌweɪ /

noun

  1. Also called: wasteweir.   spill.  a channel that carries away surplus water, as from a dam

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of spillway

First recorded in 1885–90; spill 1 + way 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Issues with the spillway gates have been addressed, O’Dell said.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2024

Opening the spillway diverts Mississippi River water to Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, after which it flows to the Mississippi Sound in the Gulf of Mexico.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 24, 2024

Lowry found fields of half-submerged corn, soybeans that had disappeared under the flooding almost entirely and rapids rushing from their spillway like a waterfall.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 19, 2023

The first thing I saw after claiming a parking spot was a vivid rainbow, hanging in the mist above the dam’s spillway.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 21, 2023

On this side of the lake there was a concrete wall with a spillway.

From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.