freshet

noun fresh·et \ ˈfre-shət \

Updated on: 3 Mar 2018

Definition of freshet

1 archaic : stream 1

2 a : a great rise or overflowing of a stream caused by heavy rains or melted snow

b : a swelling quantity : influx

summer brings a freshet of tourists

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Recent Examples of freshet from the Web

And spring will come and melt this frozen beauty with its thunderous freshet.

— peter marteka, courant.com, "The Great Frozen Falls Of Falls Village," 7 Jan. 2018
Director Matthew Ozawa gave the demon barber and all his victims credible backstories, adding flesh to the freshets of blood in Skylight Music Theatre’s production of this Sondheim classic.

— mike fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Photos: Best Wisconsin theater productions of 2017," 15 Dec. 2017
And so this river rises, gathers new freshets, drains ever more valleys.

— bill mckibben, New Republic, "What Would Thoreau Think of Climate Change?," 12 July 2017
New springs, freshets of water popping out of the mountain and onto the road, created small gullies almost daily, and mud tainted the blue ocean the color of a café latte in broad eddies circling up the coast.

— thomas curwen, latimes.com, "More than 1,000,000 tons of rock and dirt has to be moved off Highway 1. But how?," 26 May 2017
Each episode — burbling freshets, dancing peasants, water sprites gamboling in moonlit waters, a torrent tumbling over the St. John's Rapids – was firmly drawn and smoothly tied together.

— john von rhein, chicagotribune.com, "Jakub Hrusa scores strong CSO debut with vital account of Czech symphonic cycle," 19 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'freshet.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of freshet

1596

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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