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

Producing rare earths requires heavy chemicals and can produce toxic waste, with cases including illegal operations polluting Mekong tributaries in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia with arsenic and cadmium.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

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

Instead, the 30-year-old French citizen found himself among more than 140 people, mostly tourists, on a ferry that capsized in the Mekong River.

From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025

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

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 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