flume

American  

[floom] / flum /

noun

1. a deep narrow passage or mountain ravine with a stream flowing through it, often with great force.

   Hikers are warned to stay well clear of the flumes, especially during the spring thaw.

2. an artificial channel or trough for conducting water, as one used to transport logs or provide water power.

3. an amusement park ride in which passengers are carried in a boatlike or loglike conveyance through a narrow, water-filled chute or over a water slide.

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verb (used with object)

flumed, fluming

1. to transport in a flume.

2. to divert (a stream) by a flume.

flume British  

/ fluːm /

noun

1. a ravine through which a stream flows

2. a narrow artificial channel made for providing water for power, floating logs, etc

3. a slide in the form of a long and winding tube with a stream of water running through it that descends into a purpose-built pool

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verb

1. (tr) to transport (logs) in a flume

Etymology

Origin of flume

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English flum, from Old French, ultimately from Latin flūmen “river, stream”

Explanation

A flume is a raised channel or chute that has water flowing through it. Flumes are generally used to transport things like logs, or to measure the flow of water. The oldest flumes were built of wood, and were basically liquid conveyer belts that moved lumber and logs in a sawmill along the surface of the water. These flumes were safer than previous methods of transporting wood down steep mountains, such as by horse-drawn carriages. Amusement parks frequently feature rides modeled after these wooden flumes, in which riders sit in boats resembling hollow logs, propelled along a flume by flowing water.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flume flumed fluming

This was a commencement, not a log flume.

From Slate ● May 27, 2025

The only thing missing was the noise of the Al Nassr striker's trademark 'siu' celebration echoing round the plastic flume as he flew down it.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2024

Magic Mountain’s vintage take on a log flume attraction is no-frills — our boats go up a lift, enter a brisk current and then speed down a hill.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2024

Following the success of Pirates of the Caribbean, Nunis wanted a log flume attraction that would serve as the next big water ride at Disneyland.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2023

A flume of vomit arched onto the floor.

From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

Like the Unitarians, they poked for gulls' eggs in the Island's scarred, flumed granite listened to lectures, held seminars and attended services in the little Gosport Meeting House.

From Time Magazine Archive

There they were in use for many years mainly for hauling logs and lumber to and from the mills on the summit, whence it was "flumed" to Carson City.

From The Lake of the Sky Lake Tahoe in the High Sierras of California and Nevada, its History, Indians, Discovery by Frémont, Legendary Lore, Various Namings, Physical Characteristics, Glacial Phenomena, Geology, Single Outlet, Automobile Routes, Historic Towns, Early Mining Excitements, Steamer Ride, Mineral Springs, Mountain and Lake Resorts, Trail and Camping Out Trips, Summer Residences, Fishing, Hunting, Flowers, Birds, Animals, Trees, and Chaparral, with a Full Account of the Tahoe National Forest, the Public Use of the Water of Lake Tahoe and Much Other Interesting Matter by James, George Wharton

The cane is being flumed in with great rapidity, and the factory is working till late at night. 

From The Hawaiian Archipelago by Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy)

Unfortunately most of the Fresno grove has been cut and flumed down to the railroad near Madera.

From The Yosemite by Muir, John

Along a narrowing arm of the mountain, a deep canyon flumed a rushing torrent of icy water from a small glacier on our right.

From Alaska Days with John Muir by Young, Samual Hall

Leingang, who had been at Dixson’s lab since 2016, says he had become increasingly suspicious of her findings, in part because she usually collected her fluming data alone.

From Science Magazine ● Aug. 9, 2022

One former colleague became “slowly more suspicious,” especially about the fluming studies, and began to monitor them covertly.

From Science Magazine ● May 6, 2021

The coarse meal was put into a dilly-bag and placed in running water below a slight fall, from the lip of which fluming, improvised from the leaf of native ginger, conducted a gentle stream.

From Tropic Days by Banfield, E. J. (Edmund James)

There is nothing which impresses me more strangely than the fluming operations.

From The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851-52 by Clappe, Louise Amelia Knapp Smith

I will not, therefore, repeat it here, but will merely mention that the numerous fluming companies have already commenced their extensive operations upon the river.

From The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851-52 by Clappe, Louise Amelia Knapp Smith