: a passage for surplus water to run over or around an obstruction (such as a dam)
Examples of spillway in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Most recently, fears that the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway would fail caused more than 180,000 people to evacuate.
—
Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 27 Apr. 2025
The spillway was built in 1931 to remove pressure on the levees protecting New Orleans by diverting up to 250,000 cubic feet of fresh water per second into Lake Pontchartrain’s brackish waters.
—Amy Graff, New York Times, 3 May 2025
The South Florida Water Management District is working with the Army Corps of Engineer and county officials on an expensive plan to put in 20 new pumps and raise spillway gates.
—Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2025
The report also accounted for the effect of an additional spillway at New Bullards Bar Dam.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacramento Bee, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spillway
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 27 Apr. 2025
The spillway was built in 1931 to remove pressure on the levees protecting New Orleans by diverting up to 250,000 cubic feet of fresh water per second into Lake Pontchartrain’s brackish waters.
—Amy Graff, New York Times, 3 May 2025
The South Florida Water Management District is working with the Army Corps of Engineer and county officials on an expensive plan to put in 20 new pumps and raise spillway gates.
—Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2025
The report also accounted for the effect of an additional spillway at New Bullards Bar Dam.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacramento Bee, 15 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for spillway
Cite this Entry
“Spillway.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spillway. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
spillway
noun
spill·way
ˈspil-ˌwā 
: a passage for extra water to run over or around a dam
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share