: a passage for surplus water to run over or around an obstruction (such as a dam)
Examples of spillway in a Sentence
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There, it was successfully utilized to help spawning American shad and blueback herring bypass a spillway located between Lake Marion and the Santee River.
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New Atlas, 12 May 2025
Occasionally, the Army Corps will open spillways and floodways that are designed to divert floodwaters during extreme weather events.
—Amy Graff, New York Times, 3 May 2025
Most recently, fears that the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway would fail caused more than 180,000 people to evacuate.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 27 Apr. 2025
The spillway was built in 1931 to remove pressure on the levees protecting New Orleans by diverting up to 250,000 cubic feet of fresh water per second into Lake Pontchartrain’s brackish waters.
—Amy Graff, New York Times, 3 May 2025
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New Atlas, 12 May 2025
Occasionally, the Army Corps will open spillways and floodways that are designed to divert floodwaters during extreme weather events.
—Amy Graff, New York Times, 3 May 2025
Most recently, fears that the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway would fail caused more than 180,000 people to evacuate.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 27 Apr. 2025
The spillway was built in 1931 to remove pressure on the levees protecting New Orleans by diverting up to 250,000 cubic feet of fresh water per second into Lake Pontchartrain’s brackish waters.
—Amy Graff, New York Times, 3 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for spillway
Cite this Entry
“Spillway.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spillway. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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spillway
noun
spill·way
ˈspil-ˌwā 
: a passage for extra water to run over or around a dam
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