estuary
that part of the mouth or lower course of a river in which the river's current meets the sea's tide.
an arm or inlet of the sea at the lower end of a river.
Origin of estuary
1Other words from estuary
- es·tu·ar·i·al [es-choo-air-ee-uhl], /ˌɛs tʃuˈɛər i əl/, adjective
Words that may be confused with estuary
- delta, estuary
Words Nearby estuary
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use estuary in a sentence
The largest estuary in North America, the bay is known for its beauty and bounty.
How Earth’s tumultuous history gave the Mid-Atlantic its beloved destinations | Walter Nicklin | June 4, 2021 | Washington PostInstead, the waters there were not of an expansive estuary but of a river — the Susquehanna — in its final stretch before flowing into the Atlantic.
How Earth’s tumultuous history gave the Mid-Atlantic its beloved destinations | Walter Nicklin | June 4, 2021 | Washington PostApalachicola Bay, an estuary recognized by the United Nations for its uniqueness, once produced 10 percent of the nation’s oysters and 90 percent of those from Florida.
Supreme Court sides with Facebook in class-action dispute over robo-texts | Robert Barnes | April 1, 2021 | Washington PostBirders will want to check out the estuary at Weeks Bay Reserve or Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge.
Students spend hours each week learning from the tidal estuary and boreal forest on the 400-acre campus in mid-coast Maine, about 40 miles north of Portland.
College Kids Are Flocking to Outdoor Education Programs | Sara Harrison | September 26, 2020 | Outside Online
Ghost Hawk arose like a mist from the estuary salt-marsh on the South Shore where she built her island home.
The estuary where religion and politics intersect is constantly changing.
America’s Catholic Moment, and Its New Breed of Catholic Politicians | Michael Sean Winters | March 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTJoseph paused for a few second, staring out across the estuary.
Newt Gingrich: Unscathed by Marianne’s Cheating Charges in South Carolina? | Andrew Romano | January 20, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTAt 20 years old, Henry waded into an estuary and nearly drowned in an attempt to swim across.
Since then alluvial plains have filled this estuary to even beyond the original mouth.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate ShalerEven in early historic times its estuary must have occupied a great part of the land on which stands modern Dover.
The Towns of Roman Britain | James Oliver BevanThe harbour, formed by the estuary of the river and Yellow Mill Pond, an inlet, is excellent.
Yacht-building has always been vigorously carried on in the Great estuary for three generations.
Yachting Vol. 2 | Various.Towards the west it is skirted by a cliff, once washed by the estuary which separated the eastern portions of Norfolk and Suffolk.
East Anglia | J. Ewing Ritchie
British Dictionary definitions for estuary
/ (ˈɛstjʊərɪ) /
the widening channel of a river where it nears the sea, with a mixing of fresh water and salt (tidal) water
an inlet of the sea
Origin of estuary
1Derived forms of estuary
- estuarial (ˌɛstjʊˈɛərɪəl), adjective
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
Scientific definitions for estuary
[ ĕs′chōō-ĕr′ē ]
The wide lower course of a river where it flows into the sea. Estuaries experience tidal flows and their water is a changing mixture of fresh and salt.
An arm of the sea that extends inland to meet the mouth of a river.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for estuary
[ (es-chooh-er-ee) ]
A wide body of water formed where a large river meets the sea. It contains both fresh and salt water.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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