flume

[floom]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flume ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a deep narrow defile containing a mountain stream or torrent.

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

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.

verb (used with object), flumed, flum·ing.

to transport in a flume.

to divert (a stream) by a flume.

RELATED WORDS

sluice, conduit, run, channel, spillway

Origin of flume

1125–75; Middle English flum < Old French ≪ Latin flūmen stream

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for flume

Historical Examples of flume

The flume, the ditch, and the wing-dam, are the chief tasks of the river-miner.
Hittel on Gold Mines and Mining
John S. Hittell
Granger was attending to the flume which they had constructed.
Murder Point
Coningsby Dawson
If that's lost the whole expedition will be up the flume, as we miners used to say.
The Young Treasure Hunter
Frank V. Webster
A flume had to be constructed before it could again be used.
Old Rail Fence Corners
Various
"The flume has fallen and turned the river," said Christie hurriedly.
Devil's Ford
Bret Harte

British Dictionary definitions for flume

flume

noun

a ravine through which a stream flows

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

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

verb

(tr) to transport (logs) in a flume

Word Origin for flume

C12: from Old French flum, ultimately from Latin flūmen stream, from fluere to flow

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

Word Origin and History for flume

late 12c., "stream," from Old French flum "running water, stream, river," from Latin flumen "flood, stream, running water," from fluere "to flow" (see fluent). In U.S., used especially of artificial streams channeled for some industrial purpose.