flume

[ floom ]

/ flum /

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

Nearby words

fluidrachm, fluke, flukey, fluky, flumadiddle, flume, flummery, flummox, flump, flung, flunisolide

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

Gradually climbing upward, we come to a tract of land that is watered by the Flume.
A Truthful Woman in Southern California|Kate Sanborn
"I know very little about the man, but I never saw more thorough work than he has put in on the flume," he said.
A Damaged Reputation|Harold Bindloss
The water was brought in a ditch or flume to the top of a high bank, and then terminated in a tight box.
Death Valley in '49|William Lewis Manly
There being no stint of timber, we could afford to make our flume immensely strong—and we did.
The Trail of The Badger|Sidford F. Hamp

After the Pool and the Flume, an ascent of the mountain behind the hotel will be found conducive to enjoyment of another kind.
The Heart of the White Mountains, Their Legend and Scenery|Samuel Adams Drake

British Dictionary definitions for flume

flume

/ (fluːm) /

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

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.