Mekong

American  

[mey-kong, ma-kohng] / ˈmeɪˈkɒŋ, mæˈkoʊŋ /

noun

1. a river whose source is in SW China, flowing SE along most of the boundary between Thailand and Laos to the South China Sea. 2,600 miles (4,200 km) long.

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Mekong British  

/ ˌmiːˈkɒŋ /

noun

1. a river in SE Asia, rising in SW China in Qinghai province: flows southeast forming the border between Laos and Myanmar, and part of the border between Laos and Thailand, then continues south across Cambodia and Vietnam to the South China Sea by an extensive delta, one of the greatest rice-growing areas in Asia. Length: about 4025 km (2500 miles)

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Example Sentences

Several major deltas are experiencing especially rapid elevation loss, including those of the Mekong, Nile, Chao Phraya, Ganges-Brahmaputra, Mississippi, and Yellow rivers.

From Science Daily • Apr. 20, 2026

On one trip she rented a boat for a party on the Mekong River.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 8, 2025

That means they are also imperiling some of the world’s most important food-producing lowlands in the Nile and Mekong deltas and cities from Shanghai to New York.

From Salon • Jul. 28, 2025

Five years ago, when a student from a rural region of the Mekong Delta earned a full scholarship to an international university in Ho Chi Minh City, it seemed like a dream come true.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2025

On the other side of the Mekong River, I see orange and gold pointed temple roofs and towers erected on muddy red topsoil.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung