Irrawaddy

American

[ir-uh-wod-ee, -waw-dee] / ˌɪr əˈwɒd i, -ˈwɔ di /

noun

a river flowing south through Myanmar (Burma) to the Bay of Bengal. 1,250 miles (2,015 km) long.

Irrawaddy British

/ ˌɪrəˈwɒdɪ /

noun

the main river in Myanmar, rising in the north in two headstreams and flowing south through the whole length of Myanmar, to enter the Andaman Sea by nine main mouths. Length: 2100 km (1300 miles)

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Mandalay, an ancient royal capital hemmed by jungle-clad mountains and the snaking Irrawaddy river, bore the brunt of the damage.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

Then he came across a picture of Sagaing's Ava Bridge – a local landmark – lying in mangled ruins in the Irrawaddy River.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2025

The independent media sympathetic to Myanmar’s anti-military resistance movement, including the online sites of Khit Thit and The Irrawaddy, reported Tuesday that three generals had been sentenced to death and three others to life imprisonment.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 24, 2024

Irrawaddy dolphins now number fewer than 80, threatening Myanmar’s dolphin-human fishing relationships.

From National Geographic • Jan. 17, 2024

Woodthorpe was followed into Burmese fields by many others; and amongst the earliest travellers to those mysterious mountains which hide the sources of the Irrawaddy, the Salween and the Mekong, was Prince Henri d’Orleans.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023