spillway

noun

spill·​way ˈspil-ˌwā 

: 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

The Johnson County Sheriff's Office received a call around noon of two persons in the water near the Coralville Reservoir spillway at the nature reserve, which is roughly eight and a half miles north of Iowa City. — ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026

The sheriff’s office said deputies responded shortly after noon Tuesday to a report of people in the water at Lake Macbride State Park near the Coralville Reservoir spillway. — Kelsie Cairns , Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026

In 2017, when the Oroville Dam’s spillway came apart upstream, the fields sat beneath the Feather River for months, and the Lundbergs farmed nothing on the land. — Sean MacAday, Sacbee.com, 20 Sep. 2026

Not everyone’s job includes crawling 150 feet through a spillway pipe 20 feet beneath a lake. — Kansas City Star, 31 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for spillway

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• assez
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway

Kids Definition

spillway

noun

spill·​way ˈspil-ˌwā 

: a passage for extra water to run over or around a dam