Euphrates

American  

[yoo-frey-teez] / yuˈfreɪ tiz /

noun

1. a river in SW Asia, flowing from E Turkey through Syria and Iraq, joining the Tigris to form the Shatt-al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. 1,700 miles (2,735 km) long.

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Euphrates British  

/ juːˈfreɪtiːz /

noun

1. a river in SW Asia, rising in E Turkey and flowing south across Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris, forming the Shatt-al-Arab, which flows to the head of the Persian Gulf: important in ancient times for the extensive irrigation of its valley (in Mesopotamia). Length: 3598 km (2235 miles)

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Other Word Forms

• Euphratean adjective
• trans-Euphrates adjective

Example Sentences

The major air corridor over the Euphrates Valley in Iraq was empty.

From Barron's • Mar. 2, 2026

Dozens of residents crossed the Euphrates in boats after two bridges were destroyed, while residents toppled a statue of a woman erected by Kurdish forces.

From Barron's • Jan. 19, 2026

Meanwhile Syrian authorities accused the SDF of blowing up two bridges on the Euphrates River, including the new al-Rashid bridge in the city of Raqqa.

From BBC • Jan. 18, 2026

Syrian pro-government forces took a strategic military base, oil facilities and a dam on the Euphrates river from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, altering the balance of power in their continuing military contest.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 18, 2026

This explanation was suggested by the undoubted fact that the earliest known empires and writing systems arose in the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys of the Fertile Crescent and in the Nile Valley of Egypt.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond