riverbed

[ riv-er-bed ]

noun

Origin of riverbed

First recorded in 1825–35; river¹ + bed

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Choose a place that was once wet—and Mars’s now-dry riverbeds, sea basins and ocean floors offer plenty of those—and do your spelunking there.
NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover Found Some Boulders. That's a Much Bigger Deal Than it Seems | Jeffrey Kluger | October 7, 2021 | Time
The species pushed over the brink include nine birds, one bat and one plant found only on Pacific islands, as well as eight types of freshwater mussels that once inhabited riverbeds from Illinois to Georgia.
Ivory-billed woodpecker officially declared extinct, along with 22 other species | Dino Grandoni | September 29, 2021 | Washington Post
Thanks to data from rovers and other spacecraft, we know that the Red Planet once fairly sloshed with water—with dry deltas, riverbeds, and sea basins stamped into its surface.
Mars Was Always Destined to Die | Jeffrey Kluger | September 21, 2021 | Time
It also calls for some other bells and whistles to tighten up the leaky watershed, for instance, in the border’s natural canyons, which collect a lot of polluted water flowing outside any riverbed or pipe.
Environment Report: EPA Narrows Border Pollution Projects to Three | MacKenzie Elmer | August 16, 2021 | Voice of San Diego
To look at Mars today is to see a desert world, stamped with the dry riverbeds, delicate deltas and deep ocean basins hinting at the water that is no more.
Mars Has Much More Water Than Previously Known—But There's a Catch | Jeffrey Kluger | March 16, 2021 | Time

Currency is a current, but corporate beavers are putting rocks in the riverbed stream of our economy.
The Doors Never Sold Out to Crass Commercialism | John Densmore | September 27, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
One parachuted bomb landed gently in a dry riverbed and was later recovered relatively intact.
America's Secret Nuclear Test Revealed in Area 51 | Annie Jacobsen | May 13, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
They might build one bomb and test it in a riverbed a few miles away.
The Stalled War on Terror | Richard Miniter | May 8, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
Accordingly, Alfred urged the pony across the flat plain of the ancient riverbed toward the nearest and only break in the cliff.
Blazed Trail Stories | Stewart Edward White
Near by was the smoke-blackened ruin of the farmhouse, fired by the Russians when they retreated from the riverbed.
Revolution and Other Essays | Jack London
The old mud-choked riverbed separates it just at that spot from the principal part.
More Tales by Polish Authors | Various
"Juan told me last night that he had found another dead calf up the riverbed, and poisoned it," said Limber.
The Long Dim Trail | Forrestine C. Hooker
I crossed the dry riverbed and made my way slowly to Pomona, delivered the files, and reluctantly began seeking Miss Francis.
Greener Than You Think | Ward Moore

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