Definition of floodplain
1
:level land that may be submerged by floodwaters
2
:a plain built up by stream deposition
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Recent Examples of floodplain from the Web
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Flood insurance and development restrictions apply to those areas, called floodplains.
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There are 140,000 homes in the 100-year floodplain in Greater Houston.
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For years, people have been excavating Native American and pioneer artifacts from Mariemont’s bluffs and floodplains.
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This massive floodplain in Saginaw County is found at the confluence of the Flint, Shiawassee, Bad, Cass and Tittabawassee rivers as well as Swan Creek.
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Engineers said Thursday that preliminary estimates reckoned that floodplain sees that much water dumped in such short a time about once every century.
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The BPA has paid to restore nearly 9,000 acres of floodplain to closer to its natural state.
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Kinderdijk, which translates to children's dike, lies in the Alblasserwaard polder (land that's been reclaimed from the sea, marshes or river floodplains) at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers.
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About 1.4 acres of wetlands; 4,000 feet of stream; 9.4 acres of floodplain; and 33 acres of forest will be impacted.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'floodplain.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of floodplain
1873
FLOODPLAIN Defined for English Language Learners
floodplain
play
noun
Definition of floodplain for English Language Learners
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: an area of low, flat land along a stream or river that may flood
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: an area of land built up from soil left by floods
FLOODPLAIN Defined for Kids
floodplain
play
noun
flood·plain
\
ˈfləd-ˌplān
\
Definition of floodplain for Students
:low flat land along a stream that is flooded when the stream overflows
Learn More about floodplain
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See words that rhyme with floodplain Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about floodplain
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