distributary

American  

[dih-strib-yoo-ter-ee] / dɪˈstrɪb yʊˌtɛr i /

noun

plural

distributaries

1. an outflowing branch of a stream or river, typically found in a delta (tributary ).

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distributary British  

/ -trɪ, dɪˈstrɪbjʊtərɪ /

noun

1. one of several outlet streams draining a river, esp on a delta

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distributary Scientific  

/ dĭ-strĭb′yə-tĕr′ē /

1. A branch of a river that flows away from the main stream.

2. One of the channels in a braided stream.

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Etymology

Origin of distributary

First recorded in 1535–45; distribute + -ary

Example Sentences

The agency’s master plan calls for punching eight giant holes through the levees on the Mississippi and two more through those on its main distributary, the Atchafalaya.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 25, 2019

The meander took the Mississippi so far west that it ran into the Atchafalaya, at that time a distributary of a different river, the Red, which itself was a Mississippi tributary.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 25, 2019

As one part of the delta becomes overwhelmed by sediment, the slow-moving flow gets diverted back and forth, over and over, and forms a spread out network of smaller distributary channels.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

As distributary channels fill with sediment, the stream is diverted laterally, and the alluvial fan develops into a cone shape with distributaries radiating from the canyon mouth.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

It has hitherto been largely irrigated by public and private inundation canals, but this form of irrigation may be superseded by the excavation of a new distributary from the Lower Jhelam Canal.

From The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir by Douie, James McCrone, Sir