winterbourne

American

[win-ter-bawrn, -bohrn, -boorn] / ˈwɪn tərˌbɔrn, -ˌboʊrn, -ˌbʊərn /

noun

a channel filled only at a time of excessive rainfall.

winterbourne British

/ ˈwɪntəˌbɔːn /

noun

a stream flowing only after heavy rainfall, esp in winter

"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

Etymology

Origin of winterbourne

before 950; Old English winterburna (not recorded in ME). See winter, burn ²

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For at that point, just where the winterbourne gushes out from the low hills, is the spot man would naturally select to make his home.

From A Shepherd's Life Impressions of the South Wiltshire Downs by Hudson, W. H. (William Henry)

No, I cannot think that any person for whom it had no association, no secret interest, would, after looking at this village with its dried-up winterbourne, care to make his home in it.

From A Shepherd's Life Impressions of the South Wiltshire Downs by Hudson, W. H. (William Henry)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023