SINCE 1828
spillway
noun
spill·way
| \ ˈspil-ˌwā
\
\
Definition of spillway
: 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
In 1929, the year construction started on the spillway that caps the river's height at New Orleans, the Mississippi topped at 19.99 feet (6.1 meters) in June, Boyett said. — Jeff Martin And Janet Mcconnaughey, chicagotribune.com, "Flooded Mississippi a threat as hurricane season heats up," 15 Aug. 2019 The corps says Monday in a news release that about 10 of the 168 open bays in the Bonnet Carré spillway would be closed by day’s end. — USA TODAY, "Titanic auction, Legos, mighty Mississippi: News from around our 50 states," 22 July 2019 Being able to close the spillway again depends on rainfall upriver. — Rocky Kistner, WIRED, "Gulf Fisheries Are Under Siege—Now Comes Tropical Storm Barry," 12 July 2019 Over its first 80 years in operation, the Bonnet Carré spillway was activated just 10 times. — Boyce Upholt, Time, "The Mississippi River Is Under Control—For Now," 9 May 2019 Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says the opening of the Bonnet Carre spillway near New Orleans cut off service to the city because the tracks are on the flood plain. — chicagotribune.com, "Amtrak’s City of New Orleans route restores full Chicago-New Orleans rail service," 21 Aug. 2019 Meanwhile, the Bonnet Carre spillway on the Mississippi River in Louisiana has been nearly perpetually open since February, with just one month of respite in the spring. — Zoë Schlanger, Quartz, "Tropical Storm Barry could make a bad algae bloom worse," 13 July 2019 Flame spillway appears in canyon below and behind test stand. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landings recall great contributions of San Diego’s aerospace industry," 21 July 2019 Officials dispelled the notion that opening the giant spillways — the Morganza 300 miles upstream and the Bonnet Carre just outside the city — might have lowered river levels in time to avert the threats. — Tim Craig, Washington Post, "Louisiana braces for heavy rain and winds as Barry encroaches on Gulf Coast," 13 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'spillway.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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