spillway

[ spil-wey ]

/ ˈspɪlˌweɪ /

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noun

a passageway through which surplus water escapes from a reservoir, lake, or the like.

Nearby words

Origin of spillway

First recorded in 1885–90; spill¹ + way¹

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

Examples from the Web for spillway

Behind was the bubbling, leaping flow of the spillway itself, and Gatun Dam.
Raiders Invisible|Desmond Winter Hall
When the saw was still the water overflowed the "stop-logs" by the "spillway" into the pond below.
To Him That Hath|Ralph Connor
The spillway is a concrete-lined opening cut through a hill of rock near the center of the dam.
Boy Scouts in the Canal Zone|G. Harvey Ralphson
Preparations for taking several views of the big Gatun Dam from the lower, or spillway side, were made.
The Moving Picture Boys at Panama|Victor Appleton

You run up the hill the spillway channel is cut through; it iss high ground, and the golf course iss on high ground.
Raiders Invisible|Desmond Winter Hall

British Dictionary definitions for spillway

spillway

/ (ˈspɪlˌweɪ) /

noun

a channel that carries away surplus water, as from a damAlso called: wasteweir, spill

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