Rivers

[ riv-erz ]

/ ˈrɪv ərz /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR Rivers ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

LarryYitzroch Loiza Grossberg, 1923–2002, U.S. painter.

William Halse

[hawls] /hɔls/, 1865–1922, English physiologist and anthropologist.

Definition for rivers (2 of 3)

river

[ riv-er ]

/ ˈrɪv ər /

noun

a natural stream of water of fairly large size flowing in a definite course or channel or series of diverging and converging channels.

a similar stream of something other than water: a river of lava; a river of ice.

any abundant stream or copious flow; outpouring: rivers of tears; rivers of words.

(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Eridanus.

Printing. a vertical channel of white space resulting from the alignment in several lines of spaces between words.

Origin of river

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French rivere, riviere < Vulgar Latin *rīpāria, noun use of feminine of Latin rīpārius riparian

Related forms

riv·er·less, adjectiveriv·er·like, adjective

Can be confused

brook creek river stream

Definition for rivers (3 of 3)

river

[ rahy-ver ]

/ ˈraɪ vər /

noun

a person who rives.

Origin of river

First recorded in 1475–85; rive + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rivers

Hitchcock was our mountains and our rivers, curled permanently into our brainpans.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They seemed like a permanent part of the mindscape, the way mountains or rivers are part of the physical world.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But who cleans lakes and streams and rivers and makes them fishable and swimmable again?
Democrats Are Petrified of Defending Government—but They Need to Start|Michael Tomasky|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Near the confluence of these two rivers a tiny bridge spans the gap connecting the Korengal with the Pech.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley|Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Then again some comics like Rivers, Essman and Behar are blunt in their discussion of sexism.
Comedians and Feminism Getting Laughs|Agunda Okeyo|October 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Men go sighing on, drinking their rivers of pleasure and climbing their mountains of vanity.
The Hart and the Water-Brooks;|John R. Macduff
Other children were thrown into rivers and those who could swim were shot down as they struggled in the water.
With Our Soldiers in France|Sherwood Eddy
But do not the turnpikes, or fall-stops, with which these rivers are thickset, contravene also the rights of nature?
The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution (Volume VI)|Various
The presence of rivers is at once made evident by slanting the page and looking along its surface, across the lines.
Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering|Edward Johnston
Rivers their uncle was beheaded; so were their half-brother Grey and many more of their mother's kinsmen and friends.
The Children of Westminster Abbey|Rose G. Kingsley

British Dictionary definitions for rivers (1 of 2)

Rivers

/ (ˈrɪvəz) /

noun

a state of S Nigeria, in the Niger river delta on the Gulf of Guinea. Capital: Port Harcourt. Pop: 5 185 400 (2006). Area: 11 077 sq km (4277 sq miles)

British Dictionary definitions for rivers (2 of 2)

river

/ (ˈrɪvə) /

noun

a large natural stream of fresh water flowing along a definite course, usually into the sea, being fed by tributary streams
(as modifier)river traffic; a river basin
(in combination)riverside; riverbed Related adjectives: fluvial, potamic

any abundant stream or flowa river of blood

sell down the river informal to deceive or betray

the river poker slang the fifth and final community card to be dealt in a round of Texas hold 'em

Derived Forms

riverless, adjective

Word Origin for river

C13: from Old French riviere, from Latin rīpārius of a river bank, from rīpa bank

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

Science definitions for rivers

river

[ rĭv′ər ]

A wide, natural stream of fresh water that flows into an ocean or other large body of water and is usually fed by smaller streams, called tributaries, that enter it along its course. A river and its tributaries form a drainage basin, or watershed, that collects the runoff throughout the region and channels it along with erosional sediments toward the river. The sediments are typically deposited most heavily along the river's lower course, forming floodplains along its banks and a delta at its mouth.

Idioms and Phrases with rivers

river

see sell down the river; up the river.