floodplain
noun
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Definition of floodplain
1 : level land that may be submerged by floodwaters
2 : a plain built up by stream deposition
Examples of floodplain in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Waters within the 100-year floodplain or within 4,000 feet of the high tide line would be treated similarly under the Obama approach. — Ariel Wittenberg, Science | AAAS, "Obama’s wetlands protection rule put ‘too much emphasis’ on science, Trump officials argue," 5 July 2018 That’s putting a premium on properties that did not flood and are not in the floodplain. — Katherine Feser, Houston Chronicle, "Q&A: Land broker Stan Creech says land prices are up with oil," 20 June 2018 The fruit bloom coincides with the annual flooding, when fish spend as much as 87 percent of their time in the floodplain. — Adam Popescu, National Geographic, "These Fish Keep Forests Alive—And Fishing Threatens Them," 12 June 2018 Mahoney lives about a mile south of Haverstick Woods in the floodplain of the White River. — Emily Hopkins, Indianapolis Star, "Nora residents sue the city over controversial zoning decision," 6 June 2018 In the '90s, the city got grants from the federal government to move and improve some businesses in the floodplain. — Chelsey Lewis, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Paddling the Pecatonica through the Driftless Region," 24 May 2018 Eligible homeowners may sell their home to a local government at a pre-storm or post-storm fair market value and move out of harm's way by relocating outside of a floodplain to a lower-risk area. — Staff Report, Houston Chronicle, "McCaul says efforts need to be expedited to help storm survivors," 3 July 2018 The seating bowl was like a floodplain, its patches of blue expanding steadily throughout the game until the playing surface looked like an island surrounded on all sides by a three-tiered wave. — David Murphy, Philly.com, "The Phillies think they are for real. Who are we to argue? | David Murphy," 2 July 2018 Today, the Scott resembles a postindustrial sacrifice zone, its once lush floodplain buried under heaps of mine tailings. — Ben Goldfarb, Science | AAAS, "Beaver dams without beavers? Artificial logjams are a popular but controversial restoration tool," 7 June 2018These 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.
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More Definitions for floodplain
floodplain
noun
English Language Learners Definition of floodplain
: an area of low, flat land along a stream or river that may flood
: an area of land built up from soil left by floods
See the full definition for floodplain in the English Language Learners Dictionary
floodplain
noun
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Kids Definition of floodplain
: low flat land along a stream that is flooded when the stream overflows
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