river

¹

[riv-er]

noun

1. a natural stream of water of fairly large size flowing in a definite course or channel or series of diverging and converging channels.

2. a similar stream of something other than water: a river of ice.

   a river of lava;

   a river of ice.

3. any abundant stream or copious flow; outpouring: rivers of words.

   rivers of tears;

   rivers of words.

4. Astronomy.,  River, the constellation Eridanus.

5. Printing.,  a vertical channel of white space resulting from the alignment in several lines of spaces between words.

river

²

[rahy-ver]

noun

1. a person who rives.

river

/ ˈrɪvə /

noun

1. 1. a large natural stream of fresh water flowing along a definite course, usually into the sea, being fed by tributary streams

   2. ( as modifier )

      river traffic

      a river basin

   3. ( in combination )

      riverside

      riverbed

2. any abundant stream or flow

   a river of blood

3. informal,  to deceive or betray

4. slang,  poker the fifth and final community card to be dealt in a round of Texas hold 'em

river

1. A wide, natural stream of fresh water that flows into an ocean or other large body of water and is usually fed by smaller streams, called tributaries, that enter it along its course. A river and its tributaries form a drainage basin, or watershed, that collects the runoff throughout the region and channels it along with erosional sediments toward the river. The sediments are typically deposited most heavily along the river's lower course, forming floodplains along its banks and a delta at its mouth.

Other Word Forms

• riverless adjective
• riverlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of river¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English river(e), rever(e), from Old French rivere, riviere, from unattested Vulgar Latin rīpāria, noun use of feminine of Latin rīpārius riparian

Origin of river²

First recorded in 1450–1500; rive + -er ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of river¹

C13: from Old French riviere , from Latin rīpārius of a river bank, from rīpa bank

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. sell down the river, to betray; deceive; double-cross.

   to sell one's friends down the river.

2. up the river,

   1. to prison.

      to be sent up the river for a bank robbery.

   2. in prison.

      Thirty years up the river had made him a stranger to society.

see sell down the river; up the river.

Example Sentences

From the scrappy metal shacks packed tightly on the banks of the thin Jukskei river, the sparkly skyline of Johannesburg's richest neighbourhood less than two miles away is another world.

Read more on Barron's

The DMC said river levels were rising across Sri Lanka and warned residents in low-lying areas to move to higher ground.

Read more on Barron's

“You could smell the heavy loam in the deep cool woods—the Yazoo and Big Black rivers were running along,” she tells Lyell after an autumn drive through rural Mississippi in 1935.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Helen Wakeham, chair of the National Drought Group said "recent rain is very welcome, but it needs to be sustained over the next six months...to fill up our rivers, reservoirs and groundwater levels".

Read more on BBC

It maps the ports, rivers, railways and roads they would travel, and how they would be supplied and protected on the way.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• estuary 
• stream 
• tributary