floodway

American  

[fluhd-wey] / ˈflʌdˌweɪ /

noun

1. the channel and adjacent shore areas under water during a flood, especially as determined for a flood of a given height.

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floodway Scientific  

/ flŭd′wā′ /

1. A channel for an overflow of water caused by flooding.

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Etymology

Origin of floodway

First recorded in 1885–90; flood + way ¹

Example Sentences

Some areas on the east side of the city that had been removed from the floodway were inundated.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 19, 2025

Fema's official flood maps show that some of Camp Mystic's cabins were within a "floodway", a particularly hazardous area where dangerous floodwaters would be expected to flow, the New York Times reported.

From BBC • Jul. 13, 2025

She became an activist for the devastated Broadmoor neighborhood, helping scuttle early plans to raze what was left there and turn the area into a park and floodway.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 22, 2023

River Partners played a key role in creating the Dos Rios Ranch Preserve, a 2,100-acre floodway expansion near the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers.

From New York Times • Jan. 5, 2023

The massive 1997 flood was almost too much for the floodway; in fact the amount of water diverted was greater than the designed capacity.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015