wadi

American  

[wah-dee] / ˈwɑ di /

Also wady

noun

wadis plural

1. the channel of a watercourse that is dry except during periods of rainfall.

2. such a stream or watercourse itself.

3. a valley.

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wadi British  

/ ˈwɒdɪ /

noun

1. a watercourse in N Africa and Arabia, dry except in the rainy season

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wadi Scientific  

/ wä′dē /

1. A gully or streambed in northern Africa and southwest Asia that remains dry except during the rainy season.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• wadis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of wadi

First recorded in 1830–40, wadi is from the Arabic word wādī

Explanation

A wadi is a low, dry valley. The term wadi is most commonly used in Arabic-speaking parts of the world. This word wadi is mainly used to describe valleys and dry creeks and riverbeds in the Middle East and North Africa. A wadi might be a stream during the rainy season and a dry ravine during the rest of the year. Wadi comes from the Arabic wādī‎, "river" or "watercourse," and it appears in many place names — for example, Guadalajara comes from the Arabic wādī al-hidjārah, "river of stones."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wadi wadis

The desert riverbed, or wadi, had already subsided back to a trickle.

From Reuters ● Sep. 14, 2023

Umm al-Hiran lies in a wadi, or small valley, not far from the large town of Beersheba at the top end of the Negev desert.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2012

One last stretch of exposed terrain remained, a shallow wadi we had crossed to get to Devon Hill.

From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2012

“It shows a very strong sensitivity to the geology in the choice of colors for the rock, and also in the little colored spots that represent the gravel on the wadi floor,” Harrell said.

From National Geographic

I descend in the wadi to the River Lykos of the ancients; and crossing the stone-bridge, an hour’s ascent brings me to one of the villages of Kisrawan.

From The Book of Khalid by Rihani, Ameen Fares

The results showed the tools were likely to have been used approximately 84 thousand years ago and then abandoned on the banks of the wadis and subsequently buried over time.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2023

Access to the area is expected to be difficult after the rainy season starts because large streams, known as wadis, are set to cut it off from supplies.

From Reuters ● May 23, 2023

As we crossed a few dried-out wadis, or rivers, on our way to Borota, raindrops appeared and puddles began to form.

From New York Times ● May 16, 2023

The sediment layers include muddy, silty deposits from roaring rivers called wadis that form in the desert during once-every-quarter-century rains.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 24, 2022

The High Hall of the Arryns was aglow with the light of fifty torches, burning in the sconces along the wadis.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin